earthstreak (12. 178)

Though the crew of the Apollo missions who captured Pale Blue Marble and Earthrise might take exception to the accolade of best photo ever, we do think that this image of cities whizzing by taken by veteran astronaut Donald Pettit, on his third tour aboard the International Space Station having spent over five hundred days in orbit, is pretty spectacular. The dazzling nature of the foreground in motion belies other details, like the galactic core on the horizon and the streaks of other satellites and the transition from night to day on the world’s edge. A gifted science communicator making the most of his stints onboard the ISS, Pettit is well equipped with cameras and lenses and has conducted numerous experiments and demonstrations for the curious and enquiring as well as his regiment of assigned tasks and holds the first patent for an object invented in space, the Zero G Cup, a coffee mug that uses the wetting angle, the incline where a liquid and solid meet, to avoid the need of using a straw.

9x9 (12. 155)

pacific palisades: southern California wildfires kept at bay from the Getty compound and vast holdings of antiquities  

we still dance on whirling stages in my busby berkeley dreams: the kaleidoscopic visions of the 1930s Hollywood visionary—see previously  

snap-back: Europe signals that they will not allow Trump to besmirch their sovereignty  

in search of: dark oxygen (see previously) in the world’s deepest mines in South Africa  

how nietzche came in from the cold: the unlikely rehabilitation of the philosopher banned in East Germany and silenced in the West over his championing by National Socialism—via the new Shelton wet/dry 

fine hypertext products: HTML is a programming language—via Kottke 

morning joe: the health benefits of coffee are most evident early in the day  

lake of the woods: a retired Minnesotan forester pre-satellite maps planted a forest in the shape of the state

fps: attend a MoMA opening with DOOM: The Gallery Experience—via Waxy

synchronoptica

one year ago: a massive collection of card games (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: border stories, a reconstructed astrological clock plus photographs of social decay

eight years ago: votive devotionals plus Waiting for Godot chatbots

nine years ago: New Year’s fireworks, assorted links worth revisiting, built environments on Mars plus the ethics of genetic chimeras

ten years ago: the Triadic Ballet, a collection of Do Not Disturb signs, the Restoration of the Icons plus distributed content

platonic solid (12. 045)

We are informed that the Utah Teapot has escaped its containment unit once again to appear in Dublin’s Lower Smithfield Square. We like how the checked pixels seem to imply transparency. Created in 1975 and released to the public domain by computer graphics researcher Martin Newell at the state university, it is considered one of the standard reference models (see also) for 3D modelling and computer animation, Newell rendered their Melitta tea set at the suggestion of his wife Sandra. A benchmark and one of the first programming primers assigned as an exercise to coders, the teapot has enjoyed a number other of cultural references and tributes—see more at JWZ at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: BBC BASIC (with synchronoptica), fifty-two things from Tom Whitwell, early computer art from Barbara Nessim plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: Trump and May plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: a DIY cheese Advents calendar, a shuttle mission to retrieve space junk, a superlative bridge in China, translating vs interpreting, a phosphate monopoly plus Network (1976)

nine years ago: Secessionist Vienna, even more links plus Vienna at night

ten years ago: Nordic happiness

10x10 (11. 852)

analogical harmony: Edwin Babbit’s Principles of Light and Colour (1878)  

riding the rails: a guide to a cross-country trip on America’s Amtrak

world level zero: how well travelled are you—see previously  

porifera: an appreciation of the barely understood sea sponge  

me and my aero: one inventor invented both the flying ring frisbee and an innovative coffee press—via Kottke  

type tuesday: Microsoft’s new default font (see previously here and here) and more typographical briefs  

the cry of cthuthu: Poseidon’s Underworld reads the July 1979 anniversary issue of Starlog—see previously

small world: kinetic microphotography captures biological processes and microbes in never-before-seen ways  

road trip: charting the longest possible drivable distance through Eurasia  

come up off your colour chart: Taylor Swift lyrical swatches

synchronoptica

one year ago: faithless electors (with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: the stage play that coined race plus a legitimising veneer for populist prejudice

eight years ago: a visit to the Hessen Landtag

ten years ago: Roman emperor Hadrian 

eleven years ago: a photographic scavenger hunt in Leipzig plus gifting votes

♨︎ (11. 756)

We very much enjoyed revisiting artist and drafter Honmai Enya’s work (previously) in her newest book of detailed isometric renderings (see also here and here) of Japanese cultural institutions. Honing her architectural illustrations skills at local establishments, Enya’s repertoire spread from her favourite sentō to area laundromats, salons, cafés and kissaten (a quieter version of the former to contemplatively drink one’s coffee or tea). More from Spoon & Tamago at the link above.

tea party (11. 551)

Passed on this day in 1773 by the parliament of Great Britain, the Tea Act was principally designed to help the British East India Company remain profitable and offload some of its surplus by undercutting the price for illegal imports, mostly smuggled into the American colonies through Dutch suppliers, by enabling direct and duty-free exports. The supplemental tariff under the Townsend Acts meant to generate revenue for colonial administration and the paid the salaries of governors (to ensure allegiance) as well as leverage to obtain better terms of trade with transportation companies. Although the quality of the black market tea was inferior to the British, it was considered patriotic to drink the smuggled tea by some groups as a political protest to the taxes levied. Despite the elimination of elimination of duties with the license for direct sales that bypassed the need for middlemen (these merchants also angered because they were rendered superfluous as were the marketeers) resulting in lower prices for higher quality tea, colonists were still upset on principal of the retention of the nominal tax used to pay the salaries of crown officials. Harbour masters in New York and Philadelphia were refusing delivery of tea shipments and reached a crisis point in December that year when the Sons of Liberty (cosplaying Native Americans, the tax was set to expire if not renewed by Parliament) raided ships docked in Boston and dumped the cargo overboard—an event known later as the Boston Tea Party, mythologised, which resulted in the embargo and closure of the port until the destroyed shipments were paid for.

macchine da caffé (11. 472)

Via Present /&/ Correct, we thoroughly enjoyed inspecting the various models and designs of coffee and espresso makers collected over three decades by curator and connoisseur Enrico Maltoni celebrating a century of Italian cafe culture with an expansive exhibit to visit virtually. Styles and innovations are presented chronologically and an accompanying coffee-table book tells more about the manufacturers and small businesses that inform this cornerstone of society.

 

 synchronoptica

one year ago: pollutants as disease vectors plus Roxanne (1978)

two years ago: Putin apologists plus a sheet-like organism

three years ago: assorted links to revisit plus South Pacific (1949)

four years ago: cell towers and COVID, ghost crashes plus more mudlarking

five years ago: a Finnish term for resilience plus a logograph for the new imperial era

11x11 (11. 448)

inauspicious beginnings: a rift opens up in a group of official astrologers employed by the Sri Lankan government to pick ideal dates for new years rituals  

disco arabesquo: record label Habibi Funk aims to introduce Middle Eastern vintage music to wider audiences 

typecraft: a transformative font foundry in India 

the allegory of the cave: on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the film’s premiere, we may be still trapped in the Matrix 

banjaxed and bockety: two curious Irish terms 

der buch der hasengeschichten: Tom Seidmann-Freud’s 1924 collection of hare fables 

working for tips: bizarrely robot baristas will accept gratuities, in a service sector landscape already fraught with insecurity and precarity—via tmn  

the juice is on the loose: a sequel thirty-six years in the making, reuniting the original cast—via Miss Cellania  

international system of typographic picture education: an archive of the pictograms of Gerd Arntz—see previously  

pocket full of kryptonite: the preponderance of alternative rock songs about Superman in the 1990s, 2000s 

prosopometamorphopsia: a new study on generalised social anxiety disorder tries to see from the perspective of those with a rare condition that causes faces to appear distorted, demonic—via the New Shelton wet/dry

7x7 (11. 421)

triple word score: the undisputed champion of competitive Scrabble  

boyard cigarettes: unused geisha footage for an Offworld advertising campaign

statutory interpretation: a forthcoming book on the ideology of originalism and its malleability 

the apprehension engine: custom suspenseful sounds for horror movie incidental music—via Things Magazine  

penmanship: the resurgence of cursive—see previously  

raktajino: a supercut of Klingon coffee in Star Trek: DS-9  

game theory: selfishness and enlightened self-interest through the lens of novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch

8x8 (10. 737)

what is a strikebreaker: past gameshow champion Ken Jennings to host Jeopardy! during its final episodes for the season, crossing the picket line during the Writers’ Guild protest  

captain’s table: a tour of the Hamburg-America Line’s SS Prinzessin Vitoria Luise—the world’s first purpose built cruise ship, launched in 1900 

the big four: the dominant professional services networks providing auditing and assurance advise clients on how to cheat their way through compliance inspection 

bull-boards: more on the Osborne brandy mascot that’s become an icon of Spain 

get your kicks on route 66: ahead of its centenary, the historic American highway gets a much needed refurbishment—via Miss Cellania 

c’est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison: ahead of tonight grand prix in Liverpool, a look back on the geopolitics of Eurovision—see also, see previously 

lucky duck gets private equitied: the latest cartoon fro, Ruben Bolling—see previously, see also 

home port: despite the ban, cruise ships are still docking in Venice  

scabs: Starbucks announced closure of three franchises in Ithaca, New York has nothing to do with the workers’ decision to unionise

9x9 (10. 696)

precariat: the antithesis of job security—via Miss Cellania 

le jeu de monde: a seventeenth century geography-themed board game 

sell ∀ ∃ as ∃ ∀ scam: AI “prompt engineering” distilled—via the new shelton wet/dry  

ad infintum: a survey of the websites that ChatGPT and other large language models glean from to appear smartly confident 

fox and friends: rightwing ideologue Tucker Carlson abruptly announces he is leaving the network  

reductio ad hilterium: fake diaries to go on public display after forty years since their spurious authorship  

mister hepster: Cab Calloway’s jazz lexicon  

tea and sympathy: the Teasmade museum—via Messy Nessy Chic  

permission slip: inside the wave of American legislation looking to overturn laws restricting child labour

9x9 (10. 671)

mod squad: celebrating the long life and career of Dame Mary Quant, Swinging Sixties fashion icon  

the cure at troy: a poetic reflection on the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement  

31 at jennie richee: outsider artist Henry Darger 

thug shaker central: self-promoting US Air National Guardsman identified as suspected source of Pentagon leaks 

liberica: the studier coffee bean that could save the industry 

ncc-1701: a meticulous ranging of all the Enterprises 

news at 11: an epic 19 80s bumper

rupublicans: images of GOP politicians in drag—see also  

hyperbole: more on the Googie style with this iconic Southern California motel

hot toddy (10. 383)

We quite enjoyed this guide to mastering canon of seasonal classics with instructions for serving the perfect Irish Coffee, Café Brûlot (to serve twenty-four: a bottle of Courvoisier, a bottle of Kirschwasser—cherry brandy, twenty whole cloves, orange zests, six cinnamon sticks, sugar syrup, a bottle of rum and a litre of strong French-roast coffee), the titular medical drink (brandy, lemon juice and ginger syrup) or the indulgent and outmoded Tom & Jerry nineteenth century punch (to serve our twenty-four: a kilogram of refined sugar, a bottle of cognac, a bottle of rum, a litre of whole milk with nutmeg, allspice, cloves and cream of tartar to taste). Click through at the links above for detailed recipes and more holiday libations.

9x9 (10. 032)

iron monger: a preserved Victoria shopping alley hidden underneath an Edwardian arcade in Yorkshire  

u1ke: a constrained coding experiment from Frank Force (previously) lets you strum on a 1024 byte ukulele—via Waxy  

put a tiger in your tank: a brilliant, bizarre vintage ESSO filling-station commercial from Italy  

white-washing: researchers develop a highly radiative paint that cools the ambient air—see also  

call me ishmael: imagining a multinational coffee purveyor as other characters from Moby Dick  

carbon-negative: biogenic limestone grown by algae as a concrete substitute 

future farming: an exploration of sustainable, incidental agriculture  

transcorporeality: bug-swallowing in fiction  

spectacular vernacular ii: more architectural quirks, including witch-windows

my cup of tea

Having encountered DALL·E Mini (the image generating AI model that responds to natural language prompts now known as Craiyon) return recursive text overlaid with the visual results or that somehow was off in an insightful way in the past, we were intrigued by Janelle Shane’s latest experiment (see previously) that calls on deep divining and reading the tea leaves. 

The algorithm recognises that flavour of divination, tasseomancy—so far, so good—and how one might represent a message or prophesy obtained wherewith, but I did need to try a few variations, iterations of “a message in the tea leaves at the bottom of a cup”—the first go around underneath the cup and in the saucer, and still wasn’t receiving clear signals that I could feed back to Dall·E and ultimately tried “Magic Eight Ball” and “Fortune Cookie Text” for a mysterious message and for a prompt to feed back but none were forthcoming. 

One should not try to force an oracle or wrestle an angel.  Be sure to check out AI Weirdness for what happens when you get the chance to feed these seemingly random strings of characters back to the machine that generated them.

8x8

saved: Diane Keaton’s coffee table book of quirky photography  

broadacre city: Frank Lloyd Wright’s experimental community of the future—via Nag on the Lake  

23 skidoo: enhanced footage of flappers from 1929 

senator palpatine needs to flip just five seats to take back power: a fund-raising solicitation from the galactic majority leader (previously)

spelunking: surveyors discover the largest cave system in North America 

 they’ve got an awful lot of coffee in brazil: the novelty song as performed by Frank Sinatra  

homage to the squares: a rhythmic revisiting of the art of Josef Albers via Pasa Bon!  

vacansopapurosophobia: an assortment of very cromulent vocabulary

8x8

r/place: Josh Wardle’s (previously) first viral success with this collaborative subreddit  

modern screen: an annotated read along of a February 1961 celebrity magazine  

hey hey, rise up: Pink Floyd reunites to support Ukraine  

see you later, percolator: a gallery of vintage, commercial coffee makers  

spotifictional: a streaming back-catalogue of bands from television and the movies 

cheese heist: dairy crime-rings around the world—see also  

scratchcard lanyard: a song from Dry Cleaning 

explordle: guess the global cities as webcam images flit by—via Web Curios

8x8

eye-in-the-sky: a collection of superlative drone photography 

gravitational lensing: tentatively, astronomers find evidence of the first rogue, marauding black hole over a backdrop of nebular clouds 

wheel of fortune: Wordle but with common quotations and idioms—via Memo of the Air

para||el: a short film about divergent realities by Ménilmonde  

building & loan: more on the economics of gift-cards—see also  

staying toasty: bread hats and loafers, see also  

three little words: what3words (see previously) solves some problems for vehicle guidance and navigation, causes others—via Duck Soup  

to open every kind of lock: burglars’ spells and incantations 

scotus: a former law clerk writes the Wikipedia articles on Biden’s prospective nominees to the US Supreme Court in order to insert doubt and skepticism, via Super Punch  

bird’s eye view: a parrot in New Zealand pilfers a family’s Go-Pro and films some nice scenery

coffee and tv or tea and sympathy

A very clever Dutch entrepreneur, frustrated with the cavalier, disposable attitude of many consumers but also sensitive to the hardships that make it usually easier to replace an item rather than repair it, is running a chain of cafes in Amsterdam (with more planned throughout the Netherlands) that brings together darners, tinkerers and fixers to give broken goods a second, fighting chance. Like knitting groups and crafting clubs, this new café culture attracts like-minded Do-It-Yourselfers and offers a workshop where they can meet, over a coffee, to repair gadgets, mend clothing, refinish furniture and educate themselves about how stuff works. This is a great idea, and I hope the founder’s continued success is contagious.

you'll get no potato juice or coffee perpetuum

Over the weekend, we were treated to another demonstration of my parents' very clever vintage balance siphon coffee maker, which I have decided violates the laws of thermodynamics. It's quite a brilliant and entertaining performance, like an ornate fountain or Glockenspiel to toll the hour: a spirit lamp heats up water in the metal chamber and once it reaches a critical temperature, siphons through and infuses the coffee grounds in the glass carafe (bell jar).

Voided of water, the metal piston rises and extinguishes the fire, and as it's cooled, the pressure imbalance forces the brewed coffee back into the canister. It is a heuristic perpetual motion machine, a challenge to find the right grade of ground, right ratio of water to coffee, and the coffee tastes very pure. The whole process is engrossing, having never seen such a configuration or knew a kitchen contraption to operate on such principles, and very steam-punk--much more heroic than the usual delivery method.