Pioneering parachutist and inventor of the rip-cord, Georgia Ann “Tiny” Broadwick became the first woman to jump from an airplane on this day in 1913 when she performed the stunt over Los Angeles’ Griffith Park with the assistance of aviator Glenn L Martin (of Lockheed Martin) as pilot, having begun her career as an aeronaut jumping from hot air balloons in a travelling troupe. Demonstrating her technique to the US Army the following year, Broadwick’s skill and daring-do convinced the military that the deployment of paratroopers might be executed in a less hazardous manner by untethering the jumpers (the static line) from the aircraft and allow for a few seconds of free-fall. Also in 1914, Broadwick became the first individual to parachute from a seaplane, landing in Lake Michigan. Retiring from her act in 1922 due to problems developed in her ankles, Broadwick had over eleven hundred safe landings.
Tuesday, 21 June 2022
skydiver
Monday, 6 June 2022
i said young man, pick yourself off the ground
Founded on this day in 1844 by businessman (in cloth wholesale), philanthropist and great-great-grandfather of current (at the time of publishing) Prime Minister Boris Johnson Sir George Williams, in response to the appalling working conditions in London, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA, CVJM, Christlicher Verein Junger Mรคnner jetzt Menschen auf Deutsch, now a pseudo-acronym or orphan-initialism with the letters standing for nothing) was based on the beliefs of Congregationalism including the Muscular Christianity movement that promoted the notion that the body is a temple and that the physical beauty of athleticism and self-discipline were a compliment to godly behaviour and deportment. Drawn to the cities by the Industrial Revolution, there was a considerable dearth of activities for the new recruits to occupy themselves with—other than taverns and brothels—and Williams, with the support of a consortium of fellow drapers, wanted to offer his workforce better accommodations and more wholesome activities and encourage better citizenship. Basketball, volleyball, racquetball and water polo are among the sports invented and formalised at YMCA facilities. Though still considered a para-ecclesiastical organisation espousing Protestant values, its mission and outreach has expanded and become more inclusive. You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal, you can do whatever you feel.
Sunday, 6 February 2022
9x9
platinum geezer: our London correspondent reflects on the Queen’s jubilee by the numbers
snow-drifting: artist Alexander Deineka’s celebration of winter sports in the USSR
nunsexmonkrock: Nina Hagen’s (previously) legendary masterpiece extolled as it deserves
definitely did not used to be a pizza hut: an investigation into the camouflage (see previously) of franchise blight—via the morning news
biblioclasm: more books, press outlets, educators under fire as potentially subversive, challenging
king of the mountain: fours goats play on a sheet metal shelter
celebrity-ntf complex: the race is on to find the remaining marks and rubes before the bottom falls out
cockney cats: vintage feline photos collected by Spitalfields Life
hrm: Pietro Annigoni’s 1969 portrait of the Queen
Friday, 4 February 2022
de finibus bonorum et malorum
Spotted by Super Punch, New York Times sports writer Andrew Keh took note of the inspiring captions on posters for the Winter Games in the hotel he’s based out of. Lorem ipsum is placeholder text used in draft copies before the final version is available (see previously) and is adapted from a passage from the above Socratic dialogue of Roman orator Cicero (meaning on the ends of good and evil, a rather heavy subject for a throw-away endeavour), popularised in typesetting since the 1960s by a Letraset transfer sheets ad campaign, this pictured call-out begins “the pain is important to me” but non-standard, breaks down from there. Traditionally, the passage, which could very much apply to the spirit of competition, continues: “[B]ut occasionally circumstances happen wherein toil and pain can procure some pleasure. To take a trivial example, whom of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with one who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no pleasure?”
Monday, 10 January 2022
6x6
curiosity cabinet: virtually explore the museum house of Sir John Soane (previously)—via Things Magazine
glitchy terrain: users and clients report bugs in fly-over features (see previously)—via Super Punch
debate club: let’s thrash out these ongoing arguments once and for all
low, heroes, lodger: a look at the Eastern European literature that influenced David Bowie’s Berlin trilogy and beyond
medico-mechanical gymnastics: the nineteenth century work-out regiment of Gustave Zander—see previously
ex libris: a look into some of the great libraries of Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Austria
catagories: ๐จ๐ค, ๐บ, ๐คธ, libraries and museums, networking and blogging
Friday, 10 December 2021
fuzzwords of the year
Differentiated from buzzwords as something intentionally euphemistic or vague and so perhaps under the radar of censors and above
a certain level of reproach, we enjoyed learning some of the current slanguage vocabulary of China. We especially liked the Mandarin / Putonghua near equivalent for the English acronym GOAT—that is, greatest of all time—in yวngyuวn de shรฉn (ๆฐธ่ฟ็็ฅ) YYDS, “eternal god” and used to heap praise for excellence. As the author points out, the same transliterated, four-letter initialism is also employed for yวngyuวn dฤnshฤn (ๆฐธ่ฟๅ่บซ), essential “forever single”—so context counts. Much more at Language Log at the link above.
catagories: ๐จ๐ณ, ๐ฃ, ๐คธ, language, networking and blogging
Friday, 12 November 2021
he’d fly through the air with the greatest of ease
Lawyer, cycling pioneer, acrobat and aerialist who popularised the gymnastic wear singlet that’s his namesake (see also) and inspired the song “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze,” Jules Lรฉotard premiered his signature somersault (Salto) routine on three bars high above the audience on this day in 1859 at the Cirque Napolรฉon in Paris. Touring the world and writing vaudeville acts and other theatre pieces (preparing to retire from the riskier portions of his act as he grew older), the life of this Toulouse native was cut short in 1870, after Lรฉotard contracted smallpox or cholera in Spain.
Monday, 30 August 2021
live at five
This 1979 industrial (as in in the trade) theme music anthology really revs one up for the network news, coming in strong with the familiar-sounding opening track by Craig Palmer Energy, a masterpiece of the genre. There are multiple volumes of Palmer’s works, both for syndication and for one-off events, though we were unable to find out more about this rather prolific and pervasive composer unfortunately—though not everyone wants a biopic and we can appreciate letting one’s works speak for themselves—that formed the soundscape of televised reporting and sports coverage (see also) in the 1980s. More bracing openings and interstitials coming up in the panel below.
Monday, 23 August 2021
vucanalia
Thursday, 12 August 2021
all night long (all night)
For the closing ceremony of the Los Angeles Summer Olympiad this evening in 1984, Lionel Richie gave a live performance of his signature calypso song to a global television audience of some three billion.
Though most of the lyrics are in English, there are some faux patois lines, namely—tam bo il de say de moi ya, hey jambo, jumbo—like Waka, Waka—This Time for Africa from the 2010 World Cup. The modified verses for Team USA leave out we’re going to party, karma, fiesta forever (see previously), the middle term being a Swahili borrowing for feast, banquet and also used in the context of Kwanzaa celebrations.Friday, 6 August 2021
citius, altius, fortius
After learning that Olympians towel off with special shammies, that US unincorporated territories are recognised by the IOC as their own teams and that team Russia is not allowed to represent their country but rather their country’s Olympic Committee and are played out to Piano Concerto Number One rather than the national anthem, I found myself on sort of a sports trivia kick and enjoyed this extended rundown of factoids and growing list of questions answered from NPR. We especially liked learning more about air-horns, whistles and other alarms are used in swimming competitions and changes to the scoring conventions.
catagories: ๐คธ, sport and games
Saturday, 31 July 2021
hendiatris
Discouraged from being shown openly and in general taboo in Japanese societies, stigmatised for their associations with organised crime (see also), tattoos—of the commemorative variety especially, were widely on display during the Olympics, the athletes’ bubble meant no mingling with the public. See a whole gallery from the Associated Press’ photo pool, via ibฤซdem. The motto of the Games, Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) is a famous example of the above Greek figure of speech แผฮฝ ฮดฮนแฝฐ ฯฯฮตแฟฯ, “one through three,” a phrase where three words express one idea. This year the committee added a fourth term, “Communiter,” Latin for Together.
Saturday, 29 May 2021
rebound
Though it never occurred to us that such equipment needed inventing and a champion—despite the fact that every exercise and intervention does, we enjoyed learning of the contributions of avid gymnast and promoter George Peter Nissen (*1914 - †2010) who developed the trampoline and made the sport and pass-time an enduring world-wide sensation through this rather arresting feat of man and kangaroo. Inspired by the safety nets of trapeze artists and having toured fairs and carnivals of North America after university studies as a performer and learning the word trampolรญn—springboard, Nissen registered a trademark for his bouncing apparatus. Having petitioned for the sport to be included in the Olympics for decades, Nissen finally succeeded with trampolining added to the Sydney Games in 2000. The stunt however was captured in 1960.
catagories: ๐ก, ๐คธ, sport and games
Monday, 24 May 2021
7x7
television memories: John Hoare reflects on his birthday by tracking down what was on BBC at the moment he was born
hijack: a Belarusian fighter jet diverts a commercial airliner in order to apprehend a dissident blogger
greatest of all time: legendary gymnast Simone Biles has a rhinestone goat on her leotard
please sir, three of your finest cocaines: a pharmaceutical advertisement from 1912
europigeon songbird contest: the grand prix goes to Turdus (see previously) Philomelos
stardust: a collection of micrometeorites and a guide how to hunt for them
omnibus programming: a revue of fifty obscure British comedy series from the 1980s
Friday, 23 April 2021
you can’t stop us
Courtesy of Colossal, we were quite impressed with the precision, seamless editing behind this split-screen montage of athletes, which references the concatenated splicing work of Donato Sansone, whose juxtaposition speaks to the resilience and compelling camaraderie of sports. More at the links above.
catagories: ๐ฌ, ๐ท, ๐คธ, sport and games
Friday, 12 June 2020
triple-double
Splicing together hundreds of gymnastic sequences into one continuous leap, imaginative artist Donato Sansone (see previously) further explores the choreography of concatenation with this footage of athletes energetically bounding and diving through frame after frame. Much more to explore at the links above.
Wednesday, 22 January 2020
6x6
kรณrsafn: Bjรถrk collaborates with an technology company to produce background music that changes with the weather and seasons
de arte gymnastica: Ask the Past prescribes an exercise regimen from a 1560 volume
8½: a centenary celebration of filmmaker Federico Fellini
langmuir waves: a sonic sample of the solar winds
blogoversary: Boing Boing enters its third decade for the second time (see also about its earlier incarnation)
godunov, badenov: the Russian succession crisis and the curious case of the false Dmitris
how to teach your cat to do tricks: uncovering the art studio behind WikiHow‘s signature illustrations, via Super Punch
Saturday, 16 March 2019
๐น๐ฃ๐คธ๐คฝ
The 2020 Tokyo Games pictogram family is in homage of that same venue’s 1964 designs to appeal to an increasingly international gathering of athletes and audiences as we’ve previously explored, and now Present /&/ Correct refers us to a document from the Centre of Olympic Studies that profiles all fourteen intervening sets (like this 1988 version for Seoul) and the artists who created them.
catagories: ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐, ๐, ๐คธ, sport and games
Sunday, 8 April 2018
schwedische haus-gynastik
In an era before animation or interactive video, we found this German physical education manual’s use of double-exposure to capture motion and the steps of an exercise routine to be quite clever.
Looking a bit like an incarnation of Shiva, author Theodore Bergquist demonstrates various exercises through multiple super-positions based on a discipline developed by Pehr Henrik Ling, a medical doctor from Smรฅland, who recognising the role that physical activity and preventative measures played in overall health, Ling conceived of a studio equipped with parallel bars, wall beams and the vaulting horse for daily practise. Bergquist above was also the director (Hofrat) of the spa retreat at Bad Wรถrishofen, also known for popularising hydrotherapy and the Kneippbad was developed here. As innovative as the pioneering Ling was, his association with the invention of Swedish massage is somewhat of a misattribution, with the term only existing in a limited Sprachraum and going by classical massage everywhere else, the standardised practise (to include tapotement—the word used for when they vigourous beat you) first described by Johann Erst Mezger, though Ling was the first to incorporate elements of Asian massage (awakening the subtle body or the nervous system) techniques and importantly lent the ideas of massage and exercise scientific credence.
Friday, 12 January 2018
mcmlxviii
On the occasion of his fiftieth birthday, The Atlantic’s senior editor Alan Taylor regales his readers with the gift of retrospective covering the events and attitudes of the year of his birth.
If anything, a survey of 1968 lends perspective and insight on the times that we’re living through presently with violent protests erupting in France, Germany, Czecho- slovakia, Mexico and the United States, the Vietnam war, the absence of civil rights and social justice, disruptive technologies, assassinations and the Moon landing—all told in powerful images, in chronological order.
catagories: ๐ฒ๐ฝ, ๐บ๐ธ, ๐, ๐, ๐ก, ๐คธ, foreign policy, sport and games