9x9 (13. 084)

foreverware: Eerie, Indiana was the Stranger Things of the late 1990s 

correlation is not causation: the mullet index of South American regime change—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

thirty-six views of the eifel tower: Henri Rivière’s woodblock prints inspired by the ukiyo-e scenes of Hokusai—via Messy Nessy Chic  

yakity-yak: prolific toy inventor Eddy Goldfarb at 104—via Damn Interesting  

the high price of exceptionalism: America’s problems are solved problems  

classifieds: an appreciation of the enduring earnestness of Craigslist, one of the few remaining refugees of the early internet before everything was commodified  

waggle dance: an optical compass inspired by bee navigators  

business in front, party in back: an annual hairstyle competition at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg  

mr burns: a post-electric play: post apocalyptic Simpsons stage show to have cinematic adaptation

always try to be nice—but never fail to be kind (13. 077)

Miss Cellania directs us to a treasury of rather profound words to live by compiled from the various regenerations of the Gallifrean and companions, many of the sagest quotations attributed to writer Steven Moffat who joined the series after its sixteen year hiatus in 2005 but there are jewels to be found across the continuum. “Should there be another, I’ll explain to you in great detail whick of the many time laws I am not allowed to transgress.” “Life’s like that—best thing to do is to just get on with it.” “Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty.” “Nine-hundred years in time and space and I’ve never met somebody who wasn’t important.” “There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes.” “And if there is any hope for any of us in this giant explosion in which we inhabit then surely that’s it: intellect and romance triumph over brute force and cynicism.” What’s your favourite? Click through for the video compilation with eras and episodes cited. Would you like a jelly-baby?

star trek: phase ii (13. 065)

We’ve covered before the disappointment expressed by fans of having that five-year mission curtailed and production limbo of the first cinematic adaptation of the franchise and now courtesy of Miss Cellania and Damn Interesting we learn that what became Star Trek: The Motion Picture was primarily reworking of material developed for a planned televised revival series, drawing on the popularity of the original show in syndication and cast members on the convention circuit that arose in the early 1970s not long after cancellation. Although Spock was not to return for the continuing voyages as a regular character, most of the main crew did with a few additions, first officer Will Decker, Deltan navigator Ilia and Vulcan science officer Xon and scripts and storyboards for at least nineteen episodes were drafted though to never go into production. Some narratives fed directly into the movie’s plot and premises were rewritten for TNG, but many with elements of impostor infiltration and time-travel throughout were never developed further—including a dangerous, covert bit of shuttle diplomacy to the Klingon homeworld to negotiate with the child emperor in order to avert galactic war. Much more about each episode and their writing teams at the link up top, including a conceptual arc from Jerome Bixby, science-fiction author with Star Trek and Twilight Zone teleplays to his credit.

he just stares back unblinking (13. 060)

Reprising the ensemble of especially assembled backing performers from the previous season, Blondie’s Jimmy Destri and cabaret singer Joey Arias joining the musical guest and Klaus Nomi, David Bowie appeared on Saturday Night Live on this day in 1980 with the numbers “The Man Who Sold the World,” “Boys Keep Swinging” and “TVC-15.” Introduced by guest host Martin Sheen, these singular artists presented these songs with avant garde flair, testing the limits of abstraction and androgyny with the track from Station to Station sung in a skirt and stilletos and Bauhaus costumes with the latter from the Lodger ultilising a live green-screen to make Bowie into a marionette. Shortly after Bowie’s death in 2016, cast member Fred Armisen dedicated the episode to him, crediting Bowie for a transfixing experience from this particular show that the adolescent future comic stayed up late to watch and inspiring his own career to transform whatever venue, medium into art.

sabc (13. 059)

More than a quarter of a century after it had been introduced to the rest of the Western world—and against the will of the apartheid government, South Africa had its first television broadcast on this day in 1976. Initially programming was limited to the time slot from 19:00 to midnight with half the airings in English and the other half in in Afrikaners. The first programmes were a re-broadcast of the acclaimed British documentary miniseries The World at War and an episode of The Bob Newhart Show. 

 

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: The Wiz (with synchronopticæ), assorted links to revisit, Galileo’s coded astronomic observations plus Ron’s Place preserved

twelve years ago: a treasury of vintage marketing plus a trip to Idstein 

thirteen years ago: OMG! from 1917 

fourteen years ago: colony collapse syndrome

fifteen years ago: augury and the economy

ten-forward (13. 058)

Via Kottke, wee enjoyed exploring these 360° panoramas of the interiors of several ships of vessels from the Star Trek franchise—the bridges, engine rooms, quarters, sick bays and corridors from ships from different series—see previously, see also. Sets include USS Voyager, and the original USS Enterprise plus -D and -E.

all in the family (13. 023)

Anticipated by audiences nearly as much as “Lucy is Enceinte” and the introduction of Little Ricky in 1953 (CBS network censors at the time didn’t allow “expecting” or “pregnant”), as our faithful chronicler reminds, on this day in 1975, Archie Bunker’s Little Girl Gloria (Sally Struthers) gave birth to the son of Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner) Joseph “Joey” Michael with the conclusion of a two-part episode entitled “The Baby”—like with the Ricardos, the second part being “Lucy Goes to the Hospital.” Portrayed by several different actors (initially by twins), Joey was a regular part of the cast until Struthers and Reiner left the show in 1978 when it went into syndication, but the character was reprised for some of All in the Family’s numerous spin-offs—Maude, The Jeffersons, Checking In—appearing in the short-lived Gloria, Archie Bunker’s Place and 704 Hauser, the fictional address in Queens occupied by a different family two decades on. In 1976, the Ideal Toy Company released a doll of Baby Stivic—“Archie Bunker’s Grandson”—billed as the first anatomically correct male doll (inspired by the rather frank portrayal of the televised birth), stirring mild controversy at the time but since considered a collectors’ item, but no where close to the merchandising and appearances made by Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the CIA’s operation CHAOS (with synchronopticæ) plus assort links worth revisiting 

twelve years ago: a drone identification guide plus formulaic correspondence

thirteen years ago: slow pace at work, bleak near-futures plus carol trivia

fourteen years ago: US carriers take exception with EU flight emissions standards plus the wild hunt

fifteen years ago: Santa’s naught list has Wikileaks, Germany’s Word of the Year plus 2010 in review

sixteen years ago: 2009 superlatives 

6x6 (13. 005)

jabrael shelbys: Afghan morality police arrest a troupe of young men for dressing like characters from Peaky Blinders for “promoting alien culture”  

holiday inn: the hidden history behind the 1942 Irving Berlin staple “White Christmas,” composed at the La Quinta hotel 

trump derangement syndrome: US president roundly condemned for his disparaging, disgusting remarks on the murder of Rob Reiner and wife Michelle, who photographed him for his Art of the Deal jacket—there is no line for that meathead and his followers  

the internet of beings: proprioception and web-enabled organs  

do you see what i see: tales of Winter Wonderland disasters  

cultural ambassadors: individuals from seventy countries offer their best imitations of US tourists—see also

synchronoptica

one year ago: suggestions for what US president Joe Biden could do with his remaining weeks (with synchronopticæ) plus more on vexillology

twelve years ago: a history of coffee bans plus a periodic table of cheese

thirteen years ago: slips and sits plus Bad Neustadt all decked out for the holidays 

fourteen years ago: poinsettias plus FACTA coming into force

sixteen years ago: the psychology of secret societies 

grand prix (12. 992)

Joining Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Ireland, Iceland’s national broadcaster, RÚV, has voted to boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest scheduled to be held in Vienna over the decision of the organising committee, the European Broadcasting Union, not to expel Israel for its conduct of the war against Hamas and occupation of Gaza. The announcement coinciding with International Human Rights Day, Iceland cites that “give public debate in the country…it is clear that neither joy nor peace will prevail” regarding participation. Members of the EBU voted in a general assembly last week to adopt stricter rules regarding alleged ballot manipulation favouring Israeli contestants during the last Eurovision but fell short of banning them, with the mounting walk-outs casting a pall over what’s supposed to be a feel-good cultural exchange (though it has never been wholly apolitical) with diminishing acts and those remaining seeming like a whitewashing of recent events.

8x8 (12. 990)

boîte aux lettres: a gallery of modernist mailboxes found around France—via Messy Nessy Chic  

áramótaskaupið: two decades of explaining the smells and bells of the holiday season in Iceland  

semiquaver: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is a fine carol but lacks punctuation—via Miss Cellania 

k-id: Australia begins to enforce the world’s first social media ban for under sixteen-year-olds  

there is consensus to merge republican makeup into this article: Mar-a-Lago face, a plastic surgery trend among American conservatives has its own Wikipedia entry—via Nag on the Lake 

zipf’s law: a collection of nearly universal facets of human language  

linus and lucy: A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered on this day in 1965—see previously here and here  

intermodal container: the history of compartmentalised freight and how one innovation in transportation can influence another

kalle anka & c:o (12. 986)

Mental Floss brings us reporting on another imported holiday tradition (same procedure as every year) in the annual ritual on the afternoon of Christmas Day in that liminal time-slot after dinner and before super after the excitement of the gifts are baked in with over a third of the households in Sweden sitting down on the sofa to engage in a bit of nostalgia by watching the broadcast of a 1958 made-for-tv Disney anthology clip show called From All of Us to All of You, hosted by Jiminy Cricket, known locally as “Kalle Anka och has vänner önskar God Jul”—despite Donald Duck being only one character out of a cast of many. First aired on the Sweden channel SVT1 in 1960, it has grown into a yuletide custom more or less without change or commercial interruption for over six decades.  The entire programme can be found here.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Unwort of the Year (with synchronopticæ), King William College’s Winter Break quiz plus the narrative murals of a luxurious Roman villa

fourteen years ago: memes of the year 

fifteen years ago: carbon chauvinism  

sixteen years ago: a visit to Colditz 

show dna (12. 976)

With a nice scrollytelling format, via Quantum of Solazzo’s newsletter, we are able survey the changes in cast and host of Saturday Night Live over its fifty plus year history of sketch comedy and lampooning of the powerful. Each season has a heading, renaissance or ruin, with an overview and clickable biographies (short and too brief perhaps but with interesting asides, like how Julia Sweeney’s androgynous “Pat” character was made the subject of a film in 1994 or that Sarah Silverman had made limited, regular appearances for a single year—my memory of SNL like with The Simpsons to have stopped and cemented at a certain point though still appreciated, which I’m sure it has done for many after college and moving abroad) of the not-ready for primetime players with the ensemble cameos sliding in and out to show their longevity and network of connections and an interesting overview of matriculating emertii and emeritae.

9x9 (12. 824)

project mind control: Sopranos creator’s next project is about spymaster and chemist Sidney Gottlieb and MKUltra  

perwich letter: a coded seventeen century diplomatic missive deciphered after three hundred and fifty years 

daisy, daisy—give me your answer do: AI models creating their own survival drive to avoid being switched off 

meanwhile back at the academy: new Star Trek series featuring Holly Hunter is to have a coming-of-age teen theme 

critical ponerology theory: a fascinating look at the othering nature of evil 

space mom: veteran actor June Lockhart passes away, aged 100  

anti-deficiency act: anonymous donation meant to defray a fraction of the salaries of the US armed forces revealed as a reclusive billionaire 

bletchley park: a virtual Enigma machine to reverse-engineer in the style of an early 2000s computer game—see previously, see also—via Web Curios 

channelvue: capturing the experience of early 1990s cable channel surfing, a network CEO becomes flummoxed to find her station guide broadcast hijacked—see also 

synchronoptica

one year ago: The Terminator (with synchronopticæ) plus half-baked ideas

thirteen years ago: the cognitive dissonance of political campaigning 

fourteen years ago: the EU experiment, a mysterious manuscript decoded by computer plus the anniversary of the German invention of the telephone

fifteen years ago: printable Halloween costume ideas

sixteen years ago: fall back with the clocks 

seventeen years ago: the McCain-Palin ticket for the US presidency 

not-ready-for-primetime players (12. 790)

Although there has already been much celebration marking the long-running topical and comedy sketch show’s fiftieth season, its actual semicentenary anniversary occurred on this day in 1975 when the network aired the first episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live (to distinguish it from competing time slot Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell—see above). Hosted by comedian George Carlin with Billy Preston (“Will it Go Round in Circles,” “Nothing from Nothing”) and Janis Ian (“At Seventeen,” “Society’s Child,” “Fly Too High”) were the first musical guests. The cast lived in the studio for the first season and had their footing and direction by the fourth episode, introducing regularly occurring segments and characters.

dilemma of the video age (12. 778)

Via MetaFilter, we are directed to this odd cinematic time-capsule from a 1991 Entertainment Week listing of a hundred superlative obscure titles. It’s a pretty solid catalog that stands the test of time, although many have become better known as a cult classics in the intervening decades, like The 5000 Fingers of Dr T, Zardoz, Withnail and I and Xanadu, there are yet critical acclaimed sleeper hits to be rediscovered. The language and tone of the summaries seems more dated than one would have expected and the titular scenario is described as the following: “You walk into the local rental store, see that all sixty copies of Ghost are rented out and scan the aisles with dread,” which is both a reflection of our currently curated embarrassment of choices and an indictment on the siloing of content across channels and streaming services and media with many movies otherwise unavailable and the concept of owning a film library a legacy out of reach for most—the coda of the article inviting cinestes to invest in membership in a mail-order club, predating Netflix. Which of these films do you remember?

synchronoptica

one year ago: Suddenly (with sybchronopticæ) plus more boating adventures

thirteen years ago: life lessons from mythology

fourteen years ago: cruciform variations plus corking fun

sixteen years ago: travels in the States 

 

we now return to regularly scheduled programming already in progress (12. 776)

For the first time in television history in the United States on this day in 1975, the three major television networks declined a request to interrupt broadcasts and pre-empt their line-up for a speech delivered by the American president. Gerald Ford’s nationwide address was only carried by ABC and was a relatively anodyne presentation regarding fiscal discipline for an economy just emerging from a recession, laying the blame of inflation and job scarcity squarely on an “overzealous bureaucracy” and urged congress to make federal tax reductions permanent to encourage hiring with a commensurate cut to government spending, threatening to veto any legislation passed in in keeping with a balanced budget. This decision by TV executives was seen as the first challenge to the use of the bully pulpit of the president and the reach of high office to the public ear. The next day, congress and the senate overturned Ford’s veto by an overwhelming margin bi-partisan support to extend federal school lunch and nutrition programmes.

synchronoptica

one year ago: more adventures on the Mecklinburgischer Seeplate (with synchronopticæ)

thirteen years ago: the Venetian independence movement, more flea market finds plus twinned-towns

fourteen years ago: computer lab plus thirty-one days of Halloween

fifteen years ago: customary Nobel cool-off period 

8x8 (12. 775)

toastbusters: Florida woman relates the story of her demonically possessed appliance on nationally syndicated morning television in 1984 

less cowbell: short-form AI generated videos flooding social media incite confusion, nihilism  

hot stuff, hot postula: vintage American cheerleading calls and college yells  

dob, doa: statically, one is slightly more inclined to die on one’s date of birth—via Nag on the Lake—see previously 

ghost waltz: a Louie Zong spooky season tradition—see previously 

in this economy: venerable coffee roaster—also under assault from tariff-pricing—changes its name to something more achievable  

uav: mysterious drone sightings across Europe are signs of collective anxiety (see more) and echo the panic over Chinese spy balloons over North America  

workplace etiquette: the story of the woman who xeroxed her bottom, becoming front page news

wonderful world of colour (12. 756)

Retaining the same format, Walt Disney Presents switched networks after twenty-one years, in part to take advantage of NBC’s capability of colour broadcasts (with prescience having filmed many of its earlier episodes produced to air on ABC in TechniColor for re-broadcast on its new station, like the BBC’s footage of the coronation of Elizabeth II in 3D yet mostly unseen as the technology has not been widely adopted) and also owing to ongoing tensions between ABC and Disney over the channel’s refusal to divest itself from the latter’s theme parks as a large stakeholder, premiering on this day in 1961 with the new anthology series introductory pilot (presented by Ludwig von Drake, voiced by Paul Frees, on the visual spectrum and colour theory with the National Broadcasting Corporation’s peacock mascot assisting) and his nephew Donald in Mathmagic Land as the second part. The debut is credited with doubling the sales of colour televisions and for placating Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N Minow and turning around his opinion after his pronouncement that television in America was a “vast wasteland” with an educational and informative instance of the media that promised more quality programming.

8x8 (12. 749)

ephemeral 80s: a side project from Curios British Telly  

informal collaborator: methods of surveillance and monitoring by the Iron Curtain  

consumer expenditures: Bureau Labour Statistics, under pressure from the Trump administration’s push for a rosy economic outlook postponed releasing a key annual report—see previously 

the vela incident: a mysterious double flash in the India ocean was detected on this day in 1979, thought to be an undeclared nuclear test 

just look where you’re walking or you’ll get ko’d by the gauntlet of misshapened zucchini-descendant bastards swinging from above: it’s that time again—see previously   

estᴰ: an archive of derelict shopfronts from the 1970s and 1980s of East London  

disgruntled nomenclature: a list of American college presidents—drawn from a 1973 yearbook of higher education—are particularly interchangeable and revealing of patriarchical power structures 

upstairs, downstairs: seven decades of ITV on the anniversary of its founding, breaking the BBC broadcast monopoly

synchronoptica

one year ago: Bilbo Baggins’ birthday (with synchronopticæ), St Mauritius, first contact plus a presidential assassination attempt (1975)

twelve years ago: Singapore’s Super Trees, bad real estate photographs plus untamed houseplants

thirteen years ago: promoting women executives 

fourteen years ago: safe overtaking plus the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

fifteen years ago: a classic iPad sleeve 

sixteen years ago: our little travel blog 

seventeen years ago: de-logistics 

this week tonite (12. 741)

Via Super Punch, we glean this little fact of television heritage and show-DNA, though mindful that this is the news and crisis that the US administration wants us to be talking about rather than war, trade, financial misdeeds or sex-crimes: Live! hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel debuting in January of 2003 was the mid-season replacement for Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect when ABC (under its then newly acquired parent corporation of Walt Disney) cancelled the late-night panel show after the moderator took exception with US foreign policy and with the characterisation by the Bush government that the 9/11 terrorists were “cowards”—“although terrible people,” they were not cowards, “What was cowardly, Maher rebuked, “was America’s relationship with the rest of the world.” Too soon perhaps but far from a full-throated endorsement of al Qaeda, causing complaints to roll in and advertisers retreat from the programme. Of course back then, there was also no coercion from hypocritical government officials to self-censor editorialising or free-speech.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Oscars of US government workers (with synchronopticæ), getting to philosophy, Israel attacks Hezbollah with booby-trapped walkie-talkies plus sinkholes and megaslumps

thirteen years ago: a theme song for a blog plus auditory cues

fourteen years ago: Germany’s Pirate Party 

fifteen years ago: Moore’s Law and quantum computing 

seventeen years ago: a turn in the weather