pepperidge farm remembers (13. 049)

With acknowledgment to Tom Whitwell and other franchises that have gotten into the tradition, Nancy Friedman presents fifty two more things she gleaned week by week in 2025. Trivia facts and lessons, among our favourites meriting further investigation were the etymology of plonk—cheap, disappointing wine—coming from British soldiers stationed in France during WWI mispronouncing vin blanc, the Old English term for affable is wordwynsum, the industry awards for excellence in podcasting are called the Ambies—from “ambient sound,” Samuel Clements considered other pseudonyms before settling on Mark Twain, including Rambler and W Epaminondas Adrastus Blab, Elon Musk is named for a character in a novel by Wernher von Braun called Marsprojekt, an orphan-crushing machine is a shorthand term for human interest stories that praise resilience and charity (like retirees working at fast food restaurants or successful funding campaigns to pay for vital medical procedures) that fail to question the underlying societal conditions that make such heroism needed to begin with, the Kellogg’s brand has a rooster for its mascot—connoting a hale and hearty early riser—but also suggested by touring Welsh harpist as ceilog is a homophone for the breakfast cereal magnate and that Goldfish crackers were inspired by zodiacal sign the original Swiss creator’s wife, a Pisces.

9x9 (13. 027)

pot to kettle: US bans Europeans who encouraged social media to suppress American points of view—see also, whilst the Heritage Foundation openly calls for the dissolution of the European Union  

sight unseen: a collection of the best video essays of 2025  

winter tarotscope: a collective reading for the coming season from AX Mina  

first and main: store front churches as captured by Rob Stephenson—via Messy Nessy Chic with a lot more to explore including more on glass models of deep sea creatures  

x-mas post: holiday greeting cards to Paul Rand (previously) from other designers, artists and architects  

commodorchestra: Linus Åkesson (previously) performs an ambitious chip-tune arrangement of Boléro (see also) on an assortment of homemade eight-bit instruments 

exhibit a: a simple copy-and-paste undoes redactions to some of the Epstein files  

the address is cbs: the censored reporting on the infamous CECOT prison removed from 60 Minutes was bootlegged by international broadcasts—via Super Punch

synchronoptica

one year ago: the first wholly electronic television transmission (with synchronopticæ), the Bohemian John Phillips Souza plus a Christmas pause 

fourteen years ago: a Star Wars Nativity scene 

fifteen years ago: Christmas Eve greetings 

sixteen years ago: zodiacal mugs 

seventeen years ago: miscellany from Wikipedia 

8x8 (12. 862)

rat-race: a cartoon about the frenetic pursuit of happiness—at least from a merchant’s perspective 

close encounters: a 1976 meta-analysis of the surnames of UFO abductees—see also  

caleb weatherbee: venerable Farmers’ Almanac to be discontinued after a two hundred eight year run—see also  

endtimers: Artificial General Intelligence and the Singularity just around the corner has many manic street preachers, cult members and historic antecedents 

lost arcade: an archive conserving unreleased and cancelled video games since 1999, including source code and emulators, see also here, here and here—via Web Curios  

mckinsey in a box: pretty convincing AI-generated consultancy slop with an instant Power Point presentation for the business of one’s choosing  

fringe theory: more examples of the conspiratorial narrative trope—see previously—via MetaFilter 

au 8ème jour: a 3-D animated short illustrating the thread of life in a unique stop-motion, felted style

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump’s transition team (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links to revisit

thirteen years ago: the history of the boardgame Monopoly, transportation infrastructure plus a premium spoon rest

fourteen years ago: the Aeneid as an economic allegory plus contention over a Russian gas pipeline to Western Europe 

fifteen years ago: US-EU trade policy 

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

star turn (12. 253)

Via the always engrossing Things Magazine, we are directed towards the vexing but useful author and astrologer of German extraction employed by MI5’s Special Operations Executive—an agency established by Churchill best known for sabotage and helping the resistance in occupied territories—Louis De Wohl (having changed it from Ludwig von Wohl when he fled Berlin) for psyops purposes during the darkest days of World War II. Despite his reputation as a vain and flamboyant “bumptious seeker after notoriety,” as one of his handlers described him and a real risk to compromising the security service’s mission through his indiscretion and high opinion of himself, officials were persuaded that his horoscopes might be an effective way to influence Hitler and his advisors. Dispatching De Wohl on a US lecture tour in 1941—already a figure of certain renown as a dozen of his early books were adapted as films from the late 1920s to the mid 1930s (mostly crime and romance novels, after his spy career, De Wohl continued writing but mostly hagiographies, following his conversion to Catholicism), Britain wagered that American audiences might be more receptive to and sympathetic for these fringe believes and might bolster public endorsement for joining the war effort. While there was certainly occult elements of the Nazi regime, Hitler’s confidence in and reliance for signs in the stars and cadre of astrologers was an elaborate fabrication, supported by the press to make De Wohl’s predictions seem accurate with supernatural corroboration on the part of the media, even reviving a German defunct horoscope newsletter (edited by De Wohl) and surreptitiously distributed in the country. Not foreseen though the propaganda campaign seemed to be paying off with American attitudes more accepting of such beliefs (see also here and here), the attack on Pearl Harbor rendered the efforts redundant, and recognising the potency of his charisma and power to influence the superstitious, De Wohl was quietly retired to write his stories about the lives of the saints, the extent of the operation not revealed until 2008 in a document release from the National Archives.

⚶ (11. 696)

Observed between 1802 and 1807 before being identified as a minor planet by astronomer Heinrich Olbers, whom having already discovered and named what is now understood to be the asteroid Pallas gave the honours to mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, whose orbital calculations had enabled researchers to confirm the existence of the first such object in that region of the solar system, Ceres, presumed—incorrectly—to be fragments of a larger, destroyed planet, and called the discovery after the Roman goddess of hearth and home, Vesta. The Dawn mission, dispatched to explore the asteroid belt, entered into a year-long orbit around the brightest and second-largest asteroid on this day in 2011. Presently represented by the modern astrological variant of the original symbol conceived by Gauss, it was suggestive of the altar of the goddess and home-fire by extension, the first form is scheduled to return as a Unicode character, the pictorial representations repopularised following their retirement in the mid-1800s as impractical as the cosmic backyard became more crowded with eight major planets and over a dozen minor ones. During the interim until the 1950s, asteroids were given the naming convention of ordinal numbers, according to the sequence of their discovery, this one called ④ Vesta.

synchronoptica

one year ago: professional uniforms (with synchronoptica), an experimental overland train plus the Trinity nuclear test (1945)

seven years ago: a linguistic curiosity

eight years ago: a beach on the Île d’Orélon

nine years ago: classes of quarks plus a Mad, Mad, Mad Max mashup

eleven years ago: informant gadgets 

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

loong (11. 339)

This day marks the transition from the Year of the Water Rabbit to the Wood Dragon, a sixty year cycle of attributes within the twelve year shengxiao, “born resembling,” astrological procession. Also a Poseidon-like deity with each self-respecting body of water ruled by a Dragon King, the one zodiacal sign (reckoned by following the orbit of Jupiter, 歲星, the Year Star, through the sections, houses of the heavens) without a real-world counterpart (temporarily replaced in China by the Giant Panda during the Cultural Revolution but returned shortly due to popular demand) considered an especially auspicious one and has an analogue in the Western sign Scorpio. Though considered lucky for those born during these years, from a prognostic perspective, it is difficult to read except as progress with a price, a time of energy and upheaval tempered to an extent by wood (木, wuxing) having the characteristics of endurance and flexibility.

la montaña sagrada or a funny thing happened on the way to enlightenment (11. 231)

Via a New Year’s obscure filmic tradition, we are re-introduced to the spectacle of Alejandro Jodorwsky’s (previously) 1973 Holy Mountain and considering a re-watch. The sacrilegious, surrealistic movie produced by Beatles manager Allen Klein with financial backing of John Lennon and Yoko Ono relates the narrative of a thief marketed as Jesus returned and collaborates with an alchemist (played by Jodorwsky) to transmogrify and transfix himself along with a constellation of characters representing the houses of the zodiac, ultimately breaking the fourth wall and give up this quest. Prior to filming, principal cast members underwent three months of spiritual training drawn from various practises including the I Ching, yoga, Zen Buddhism and the Kabbalah as well as communal living prescribed dosages of LSD and psilocybin. After premiering in Cannes, the Holy Mountain was screened in limited-release in New York and San Francisco in November and was not widely available until three decades later.

7x7 (10. 992)

trochilinae: a look at the evolution of evolution of hummingbirds—see previously  

uranometria: a comparative study of constellations across cultures—via Web Curios  

portfolio: photographer James Mollison documents children’s rooms, collectors and their collections around the world plus other projects—via Things Magazine  

lightning 4-2: a record-setting speedrun of Super Mario Bros  

zero width non-joiner: let AI generate a custom emoji—note the cursed thumbs up/down icons—via Waxy

extended-stay: Plato’s Cave (previously) will be raising its rent—via JWZ  

halcyon days: a slow-motion look at the kingfisher’s dive 

synchronoptica

one year ago: Stone Temple Pilots plus the proclamation of King Charles III

two years ago: more on DC statehood, the Battle of Teutoberg Forest (9 AD), rewilding begins at home plus assorted links to revisit

three years ago: the establishment of Washington, DC (1791), the disputed Hans Island, a lighthouse transformed plus AI supervillains

four years ago: more on the moons of Jupiter 

five years ago: Trump threatens to remove US troops from Germany plus an expansive pattern library

 

7x7 (10. 919)

istj: while gladly gone the way of Harry Potter House in many circles, Chinese placement agencies are obsessing with Myers-Briggs personality types  

hapsburg ai: generative chat programmes trained on derivative synthetic output becomes recursive and untenable—via Kottke  

pittura infamante: the Florentine legal tradition of the rogues’ gallery—via Miss Cellania 

 𝕏: flashing sign with new logo dismantled in San Francisco’s Twitter headquarters after neighbours complain 

‡:a font family inspired by an Ancient Roman typeface continues a centuries’ long dialogue of the printed word  

watermark: to distinguish generative writing from human, we could possible assign it its own Unicode alphabets—via Language Log  

the belt and road initiative: Italy is vocal with its regrets over signing on to China’s foreign policy push and infrastructure development programme

human computer (10. 817)

Despite a posthumous and four-decade late official acknowledgement by the world records authority, Shakuntala Devi (ಶಕುಂತಲಾ ದೇವಿ), nonetheless a celebrated author, mental calculator, political opponent to Indira Ganhdi in parliamentary elections after her prime-ministership and astrologer—without any formal education (though born into the Brahmin caste her father was a circus performer, a trapeze artist and lion tamer before taking his prodigious daughter on tour), achieved her record setting calculation on this day in 1980 at Imperial College, London, multiplying two randomly-generated thirteen digit numbers in under half-a-minute, rivalling the processing times of contemporary computers. In addition to authoring several books on arithmetic to teach people some of her methods for simplifying and intuiting solutions, including Figuring: The Joy of Numbers, Devi also wrote several cookbooks, crime novels and a rather controversial though suppressed and not widely and first study on homosexuality in India (which possibly delayed recognition by Guinness), written in order to understand her gay husband and to better understand the community.

the flesh failures (10. 670)

Beginning a six week run at the top of the US singles charts on this day in 1969 with a medley of two musical numbers composed for Hair, the release by the group the 5th Dimension went on to be certified platinum and ranks as according to Billboard as one of the greatest numbers of all time. The genesis of the eventual recording came after producer Dayton Burr “Bones” Howe was reunited with his lost wallet and invited the finder—a cab passenger who was involved in the production of the musical—was invited to a show in gratitude and raved that the introductory song “Aquarius” would complement and complete the titular sequence with its refrain. Purportedly leaving the Age of Pisces (Jesus fish), current or hence according to reckoning, some astrologers have derided the lyrics as premature and uninformed in terms of sun-signs, pointing out that Jupiter aligns with Mars multiple times annually and the Moon is in the seventh house daily.

the fault, dear brutus, is not in our stars (10. 633)

Far afield from the actual cause, on this day in 1345 noted surgeon and author of several treatises on the subject of hernias and cataracts well as the influential and widely-read Chirurgia Magna after Avicenna and Galen, Guy de Chauliac, observed a conjunction of Saturn, Mars and Jupiter in the House of Aquarius following a solar eclipse, which many took as an ominous portent and source of the outbreak of the Black Death that hit pandemic levels three years later. For his part, the resident physician of Paris and Montpellier, chiefly deriving his knowledge from the embalming the cadavers of dead popes during the Avignon Captivity, chose to remain during the pandemic outbreak whist other doctors fled, importantly documenting the difference between the Bubonic and Pneumonic Plague, discouraging social contact and attempting to disabuse people from assigning blame to heretics and the Jewish population, whom many accused of poisoning well water, and accept this superstitious coincidence.

♏︎⚦𝓜 (10, 602)

Public Domain Review contributor Rebecca Whitely offers a thoroughgoing exploration of the iconography and understanding of pregnancy and childbirth of Early Modern Europe, which envisioned in utero as a homunculus, a nesting portrait of mother and daughter couched in metaphors of astronomy and a well-tended garden. By turns both practical and superstitious, such diagrams and their legacy resolve—both in terms of caretaking and control—like any anatomical imprint when examined on multiple registers.

artist spotlight (10. 487)

Via Booooooom, We appreciated the introduction to the portfolio of works by printmaker Sophy Hollington through her linocut reliefs that conjure and confound elements of future-facing visions and the arcane, divinatory and superstitious with magical sigils and cyphers, whose particular visual language is the constrained writing (see also) that is the rigid manner of the medium. Much more, including commercial commissions, at the artist’s website at the link above.

7x7 (10. 269)

memorymoog: Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo shares his synthesizer collection  

erry & merry: the portfolio illustrator Walter Schnackenberg whose subject and style was informed by Toulouse-Lautec’s Parisian cabarets 

unalloyed: scientists discover a way to synthesise a cosmic compound that may be a cheap and abundant substitute for rare earth elements  

star-bellied sneech: verification for sale 

astronomicum caesareum: an exploration of an intricate, antique tome commissioned to prognosticate one’s destiny  

waverly abbey: an ancient yew in Surrey is accorded the UK Tree of the Year title  

ondioline: a demonstration of this precursor to the synthesizer from Jean-Jacques Perry—via Pasa Bon!

8x8 (10. 131)

le milieu du monde: influential Swiss director Alain Tanner has passed away at 92  

zodiaco: we liked these astrological sign matchboxes from José María Cruz Novillo—see previously  

circadian rhythm: an infographic comparing sleeping patterns across the animal kingdom  

landscape, portrait: a relatable, cautionary comic from xkcd  

punching down: US Republican governors ask Joe Biden to be less generous with his student debt forgiveness plan  

moxie: Perseverance’s experimental oxygen generation—via Super Punch 

trap set: chimpanzees in Uganda demonstrate their signature drum-beats, can communicate across great distances 

maître à penser: French New Wave film pioneer Jean-Luc Godard has exited the scene, aged 91

dies caniculares

A calque, a near word-for-word translation of “the puppy days”—from today through mid-month in the northern hemisphere mark the beginning of the hottest, sultriest period in the summer and a time for extreme heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms as well as the maladies of lethargy, mad dogs and poor luck and is heralded by the annual reappearance of the brightest star in the night sky α Canis Majoris, called Sirius, “the Scorcher” in the Greek tradition and Sopdet in Egypt and venerated as the precursor to the flooding of the Nile. Lasting through mid-August, the waning of this oppressive, uncomfortable time of high summer is marked by the Feast of Roch, patron saint of dogs.

7x7

2slgbtqia+: a calendar of Native American and First Nations’ Pride events—the 2S is for “Two-Spirits”  

about the damn end: DJ Cummerbund (previously) mixes Lizzo and Linkin Park—via Waxy  

sacred modernity: McGregor Smith explores Europe’s superlative post-war churches—via Things magazine

why ernest saves christmas: wholly machine-generated articles on any number of topics—the logorrhoea of infinite neural networks producing infinite copy, via Web Curios  

signature sound: a 1957 musical horoscope album (see also here and here) orchestrated by Hal Mooney  

the endangered california bumbletrout: court declares bees are fish to afford them better defence under the state’s species protection act  

night of a thousand judys: a tribute concert for charity on what would have been Garland’s one-hundredth birthday