In deference to the silver anniversary of the Peter Benchley and Steven Spielberg and Peter Benchly collaboration—which agreedly holds up and worth a rewatch—Clive Thompson’s Linkfest (lots more great stuff there) directs us to a text-based adventure game inspired by the film authored by programmer and designer Matt Round, that follows the plot pretty faithfully scene by scene but from the point of view of the titular shark with some pretty compelling internal monologue (see also).
Saturday, 12 July 2025
Friday, 11 July 2025
7x7 (12. 571)
edge of eternity: Poseidon’s Underworld’s cinematic vacation to the Grand Canyon
the open-hearted many and the broken-hearted-few: the venerable and ongoing Leonard Cohen Files—via Metafilter

voulez-vous danser avec moi: the mambo scene of Brigitte Bardot and Dario Moreno from Michel Boisrond’s 1959 « Come Dance with Me? »
flatland: the four dimensional world of Alicia Boole Stott—see also
and if i haver: an endurance run of The Proclaimer’s I’m Gonna Be—via Web Curios
it happened here: a contemporary table-read of Stephen King’s what-if premise of Apt Pupil considered during a staycation from Today in Tabs—via ibidem
Tuesday, 8 July 2025
7x7 (12. 565)
alligator auschwitz: Trump’s Florida detention centre is by every definition a concentration camp
solvitur ambulando: when in doubt, go for a walk—see previously
mcmxxv—mmxxv: the century in one hundred films

rif me daddy: US supreme court overrules injunction against executive branch illegal mass firings after passage of Trump’ domestic policy agenda
geschirrspรผler: a 1959 German dishwasher in action
adam und eva: a group of Europeans’ failed attempt to found a utopia during the interbellum period on a remote Galรกpagos island—via Neatorama
race and ethnicity: the case of George Shishim, invoking Jesus, illustrates the particularly American obsession with whiteness to the exclusion of others—see more
Saturday, 17 May 2025
9x9 (12. 465)
the running man: US officials entertain the idea of a television game show that allows individuals to compete for citizenship—see previously

anamnesis: the diary of a lycanthrope
party crasher: a slightly voyeuristic search engine for random wedding websites—via Web Curios
milk and cheese: a tribute to comic book artist Evan Dorkin—via MetaFilter

holistic wellness influencer: Trump’s pick for US surgeon general traffics in dangerous pseudoscience—see also
werewolf of london: a look back on the first full-length creature feature on its ninetieth anniversary—via Miss Cellania
the parable of the sower: Octavia Butler on writing and daily fidelity—via Kottke
birth-right citizens brigade: challenge to XIV amendment law (previously) goes before US supreme court but arguments focus on activist judges and universal injunctions
Sunday, 11 May 2025
10x10 (12. 449)
shooting the messager: the AP reporter fired and blacklisted for scooping the story of Nazi Germany’s surrender eight years ago—via Strange Company
๐: Shanghai metro lets riders design their own bus routes
vision cantos: Denis Cooper on filmmaker Jud Yalkut—via { feuilleton }
the poyais scam: confidence tricker Gregor MacGregor’s con to lure investors in a fictional central American territory
that’s why the apostrophe is single and not plural: the story of Anna Jarvis—the creator that later sued for the abolition of Mother’s Day
flugsteighalle: a digital exhibition of Berlin’s monumental Tempelhof airport—previously—via das Kraftfuttermischwerk
the madison avenue beat: a selection of vintage advertising jingles presented as a dance remix
corner of the city: street photographer Tong Ho Chung Howard’s most famous image captures the traditional tong lau (ๅๆจ) architecture of Hong Kong, gradually being replaced by urban renewal programmes
root causes: competing narratives for WWII Victory Day celebrations
Wednesday, 7 May 2025
7x7 (12. 438)
kanzlermehrheit: Bundestag selects Friedrich Merz chancellor after secure a majority in the second round of voting, averting a constitutional crisis
rococo and its discontents: McMansion Hell on Trump’s gaudy transformation of the White House—via Kottkefuzzy maths: an unsure calculator that produces a range of histograms to assess one’s unknown factors—via Pasa Bon!—from home economics decisions to the Drake equation
reaction time: a car brake engaged by one’s eyebrows
top billing: the movie poster and album cover art of Dick Ellescas that fuses Art Deco and Mod
architektonisches gesamtkunstwerk: the Junkerhaus of Lemgo articulated over the decades whilst the jilted artist awaited his betrothed who would never return—via Messy Nessy Chic—more here
habemus papam: first round of voting fails to produce consensus—plus live chimney cam
spaghetti thriller (12. 437)
The cinephiles of the Flop House with a special guest deliver a very thoroughgoing treatment of the Italian murder-mystery film genre called giallo (the title an alternate native term) popular from the 1960s through the late 1970s—which although declined subsequently with other exploitation movies leaves a lasting legacy and influences in subsequent movements like slasher and supernatural narratives. Derived from a series of crime pulp novels published by the Milano-based Mondadori house who distinguished book themes by their cover colours, in this case yellow—including in their catalogue translated titles from Agatha Christine, whose And Then There Were None (originally called Ten Little Indians or Dieci piccoli indiani) was widely read and considered the template for the genre, laying out the essential elements later adopted by filmmakers of a killer hidden amongst a cast whose identity and motive are not revealed until the end—translated to the screen with psychosexual horror, an atmosphere of suspense, camp, lurid Technicolour, bombastic scoring (see previously here and here) and gratuitous violence. Suspiria is sometimes included for its stylistic similarities but rejected by purist for its supernatural character, though director Dario Argento made other films, with typically baroque and non-revealing titles, like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Four Flies on Grey Velvet, that are considered classic gialli.
Another interesting artefact was the prevalence of J&B scotch whisky in the films across the range of directors as a signifier of sophistication and manliness—Justerini and Brooks Ltd, founded in Bologna in 1749 and receiving a royal warrant to supply wine and spirits to the aristocratic households of London and later purveyors to hotels and restauranteurs. With shifting values, condemned as misogynistic, gialli fell out of favour but their later homage has occasioned a reevaluation of their consistent, if not indirect, message of the victims, almost exclusively women, not being listened to when airing their suspicions and fears. Be sure to listen to the podcast for expert movie recommendations.
Monday, 5 May 2025
the nightly (12. 433)
Via Nag on the Lake and Web Curios, we are directed to an internet radio station fronting a music appreciation society celebrating a selection the vintage, obscure, vaguely gloomy and positively atmospheric songs and film scores, chiefly from the 1930 to the 1970s with some real jewels from Italian and Japanese cinema. Moody but not maudlin, there are over four thousand titles in circulation and growing that are instantly transporting and transfixing, evoking the hard-scrabbling and noir, taking one to those liminal spaces and liminal hours.
Monday, 28 April 2025
10x10 (12. 420)
america’s war: a special report from the Verge for the fiftieth anniversary of the Fall of Saigon
leaflet: an Art Nouveau study of botanical forms and their application in decor—see previously
mangajin: an appreciation of the month English-language publication for students of Japanese language and culture—full archives from the entire run from 1988 to 1997 here
do: inspirational words from artist Sol LeWitt to fellow creative pioneer Eva Hesse
chisanbop: the Korean technique of fingermath
i have to push the pram a lot: Monty Python and the Holy Grail at fifty
animal spirits: what felines, bovines, porcines, etc on the label say about wine quality
you wouldn’t right-click a car: US anti-piracy campaign filled with hypocrisy, including a stolen font—see also
bus error collective: a WSIWYG primer on oscilloscope music—via Waxy
worst one-hundred days: assessments of Trump first months in office for his second term—more here and here
synchronptica
one year ago: Pennsylvania 6-5000 (with synchronoptica) plus naming world wars
seven years ago: a corollary to the Bechdel test plus a visit to Stockheim
eight years ago: archaeology with trace DNA, Islamic gateways plus responding to nuclear extortion
nine years ago: crowd control robots, language acquisition plus a hand-held DNA sequencer
ten years ago: visiting FDR’s Georgia retreat, ribald limericks, assorted links to revisit plus pontoon bridges to alleviate traffic congestion
Thursday, 10 April 2025
9x9 (12. 381)
domestic box office: in response to escalating tariffs, China is curtailing the number of American films screened in the country
redeployment: decision to reposition US troops stationed in Poland causing concern
dixonary: improprieties in pronunciation among New Englanders
๐ฆ: the Latin alphabet expressed as hieroglyphics
now is a great time to buy—$djt: social media posts and a spike in options activity may indicate insider trading within the administration
ื₀: physicist Dominic Walliman charts out the fields of mathematics and how the academic informs application
from the gigantic bones displayed at roncesvalles: an adjective that should be brought part back into use
a man, a plan: US defence secretary floats idea of reopening mothball military bases from the 1989 invasion of Panama
trading floor: the history of the ticker-tape machine
Friday, 4 April 2025
will a fosse neck do it? (12. 366)
Via fellow internet peripatetic, Messy Nessy Chic, we really enjoyed this celebration of the choreography of Bob Fosse (previously) taken from the 1969 cinematic adaptation of his Sweet Charity—based off of Fellini’s Le notti di Cabiria featuring the narrative of a sex-worker in Rome and lightly sanitised as the story of a call-girl, dancer-for-hire in Times Square’s Fandango Ballroom, its sleaziness illustrated by “Hey, Big Spender,” portrayed by Shirley MacLaine. Invited home by a celebrity guest on the mends from an apparent breakup, the protagonist finds herself in his apartment for dinner, “If They Could See Me Now,” whilst pursuing an ill-fated romance with a claustrophobic elevator-operator.
Wednesday, 26 March 2025
kalaallit nunaat (12. 338)
As the autonomous overseas territory has been garnering some welcome and some unbidden attention lately with the US determined to annex the artic island and sending an entourage to engage in election interference and meddle with self-determination, Tedium presents a celebration of Greenland’s unique pop culture, informed but untethered from its history as a colonial dependency. From the first piece of cinema entirely produced on the island with a cast of local actors to the psychedelic, prog rock band Sumรฉ, critical of the Danish government, past policies of assimilation and an anthem for the independence movement, the national artistic output is couched on the struggle for recognition but also stands on its own outside of any context. There’s a coda linking back to the US vice-president through Richie Cunningham’s character enlisting in the army stationed at Ultima Thule—to get away from Happy Days—and director Ron Howard assaying Vance’s autobiography. Much more at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: AI search (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: gerrymandering, suicide prevention plus the buccaneers of America
eight years ago: a coopted meme, studio MUTI plus more on technological redundancy
nine years ago: ambitious Hyper-Loop plans for Europe
ten years ago: crusaders sack Constantinople, a roundup of patriotic cartoons plus the rise of the smart-watch
Friday, 21 March 2025
10x10 (12. 325)
isolated dictatorship: Canadian MP urges citizens to avoid travel south of the border
sykkelinfrastruktur: an amazing bike tunnel in Bergen
incel camino: a new make and model for the Swasticar for all the domestic terrorists
four of swords: Hyperallergic’s tarotscope for the coming of Spring
fabio and the goose: Bobby Fingers (previously) reconstructs the encounter of harlequin novel author and pin-up’s encounter with a migrating bird whilst on a rollercoaster
arbour day: tree planting activities cancelled over anti-DEI posture
cats in outlines: the strangely gratifying effect of felines freezing in place
sorry—not sorry: a study of apologies gleaned from reality television
scylla and charybdis: the millennia-long aspirations to link Sicily with the mainland may soon come to pass
pin: an unnerving psychosexual horror Canadian horror film from 1988
Wednesday, 19 March 2025
georgia claimed her—georgia named her (12. 317)
Recorded on this day by Ben Bernie and the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra and released the following day, spending five-weeks at number one on the American charts, the jazz standard was inspired by a chance meeting with the composer and longtime state house representative Dr George Thaddeus Brown, pledging while in office to name his daughter in honour of his constituency—the anecdote reflected in the above lyric. Renditions include performances by Bing Crosby, Cab Calloway, Django Reinhardt, a more empowered version by Roberta Flack, the Harlem Globetrotters’ theme from the instrumental rendering by Brother Bones and His Shadows featuring whistling and rhythm spoons and the below opening scene (which lives rent-free in my head) from the 1983 film To Be or Not To Be featuring Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft dancing and singing in Polish.
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
see you next wednesday (12. 315)
Via the New Shelton wet/dry, we learn that a fairly innocuous, throw-away line from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as the titular closing line spoken by the father of Frank Poole in a video letter to his son became the working-title for the first screenplay of director John Landis. Self-described as terrible and unfilmable but with a few redemptive though underdeveloped ideas (a musical autobiography as if he himself had died aged nineteen), this beginning effort was never produced but Landis made sure to give it a cameo appearance in later films as he established his credentials as an auteur as a running gag, rarely screened and never in its entirety and recast each time. A frame story, it appears in Landis’ 1977 The Kentucky Fried Movie as a 4D experience with each audience member attended by an usher acting out what is occurring on screen, on a billboard in The Blues Brothers as a King Kong knock-off, a porn film presented in a seedy theatre in An American Werewolf in London and as the pictured poster in 1983’s Trading Places. Outside of Landis’ filmography, it is also a line of dialogue in the monster movie Michael Jackson and girlfriend are watching his in Thriller extended music video as well as numerous other easter eggs to watch for in his other works and homages by other creators—which pretty good for an unmade freshman project.
Thursday, 13 February 2025
advance compliance (12. 229)
Disney, amid a board shift in DEI posture among American corporations, having already relented with a fifteen million dollar settlement plus profuse apologies for character defamation when an anchor said the garbage sex-pest had been found liable for rape rather than abuse, we learn via JWZ has reverted from the more thoughtful content warning introduced in October of 2020 for its vintage catalogue: This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe—to its previous terse disclaimer for classics that haven’t aged well, “This programme is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions.”
Friday, 24 January 2025
12x12 (12. 179)
contraception begins at erection: Mississippi lawmaker has introduced a bill called ‘contraception begins at erection’ outlawing male masturbation, hoping to bring balance to the reproductive rights’ restriction that focus on women—via the New Shelton wet/dry
obayashi world: Japan’s most Lynchian filmmaker
so long and thanks for all the fish: Joan Ocean’s Dolphin Connection—via Web Curios
crass competing abstrusities: official, sanctioned transcription of US secretary of state Marco Rubio (้ฒๆฏๅฅฅ) changed—possibly as a way to get around the ban the Chinese government itself imposed plus other politicians’ names—see previously

she was nasty in tone, not compelling or smart: Bishop Budde won’t apologise for her appeal for mercy and hospitality
the birthright citizens’ brigade: a list of organisations pushing back against the slide to authoritarianism in the USdreiundfรผnfzig tage: how Hitler dismantled a constitution republic through constitutional means
xanthelasma: Florida man on diet of beef, cheese and sticks of butter oozes cholesterol from his skin—see also—via Miss Cellania
a catalyst for curiosity: Wikenigma documents the unexplained—via Kottke—those scientific and academic questions that evade a definitive answer, like the Collatz conjecture
you remind me of the babe: Robert Eggers to make a sequel for Labyrinth
unplanned pregnancy: as an encore to freeing all the January Sixth rioters, Trump pardons dozens of anti-abortion protesters, some jailed for violent tactics to block clinic access and intimidating doctors ahead of the Right to Life March
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
11x11 (12. 172)
concrete feats: the landmark Vรฅga Water Tower on coast Varberg, Sweden
ลฟpy v ลฟpy: a look at the world of espionage in the Middle Ages—via the new Shelton wet/dry
obelisks: researchers discover a new form of life with circular RNA—that appear less alive than viruses
we were wrong that day—we broke the law: convicted January Sixth capitol rioter known as MAGA Granny rejects clemency offer

cinematic universe: The Goonies and Back to the Future happened on the same day in 1985—via Kottke
ััะธัั: foundry excavating Ukrainian fonts from the underground
dark web: Trump has granted an unconditional pardon to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht
red team: research students—under supervision recreate—viral pathogens identical to those that caused the 1918 influenza pandemic
lexicon: a glossary of medieval words from Middle English whose meanings have shifted
solar gate: 4D printed blinds mimic plants to open and close on their own
Sunday, 19 January 2025
i guess it means there’s trouble until the robins come (12. 194)
Via tmn, we appreciated this corresponding pair of brief encounters that reporter Adam Nayman shares on the entertainment beat of departed director that strike one as about as Lynchian as it gets. The first exchange took place in a hotel room during the 2001 Toronto Film Festival with Mulholland Drive on the circuit and the creator holding a succession of interviews with various outlets. Asking an unvarnished question about the director’s intent that went unanswered, David Lynch delivered a quotable coda after the tape recorder had been switched off of “A thing is what it is—and that’s what it wants to be.” Retreating to a corner of the room after his allotted time was over, Nayman repeated it on tape so as not to forget but inadvertently mimicked Lynch’s cadence in doing so. Overhearing him, Lynch shot him a thumbs up. Five years later, Nayman secured a more extensive session with the release of Inland Empire over the phone, asking more seasoned and nuanced questions to draw out better responses. After it concluded, however, Nayman discovered to his horror that only one side of the conversation had been recorded, with a deafening lacuna present where the responses should have been, not dead air exactly but more “like the whirl of an overhead ceiling fan—or the roar of the ocean as heard through the cochlea of a bloody, discarded human ear” or like how a speech coach was hired to help with enunciation for The Man from Another Place for the lines of reverse-speech not knowing the actor playing the role, Michael J Anderson, a computer technician for NASA’s space shuttle mission control before his acting career, already knew how to talk backwards, having used it as a secret language in school—and in a panic called back Mr Lynch’s assistant to puzzle out the technical difficulties or repeat the interview. The assistant said that his schedule was full but placed Nayman on hold for an interminable length of time before finally returning to explain, “David says he’s sorry—he says that you can say that he said whatever you like, however you remember it is fine.” Lynch’s body of work is not just experiences, those films live with one for years and decades. Much more at The Ringer at the link above.
the man from another place (12. 193)
We enjoyed this appreciation of the soundscape of the filmography of transcended director David Lynch compiled by NPR correspondent Hazel Cillis. Covering Lynch’s own composition “In Heaven” from Eraserhead to the orchestral soundtrack to Dune (see previously), all tracks from Toto (the band best known for their hit “Africa”) except Brian Eno’s ambient contribution in the “Prophecy Theme” and all moody and atmospheric numbers in between, the playlist embodies the surreal and mysterious essence of the creator, especially in the use of standards to disabuse the audience from thinking they know what they’re hearing just because it’s familiar.