now look here colonel bat guano, if that is your real name (12. 657)

Founded by veteran CBC journalist and presenter Clyde Gilmour in the 1940s, the Society for the Verification and Enjoyment of Fascinating Names of Actual Persons (SVENAP) is a deliciously intriguing roster of unusual and not wholly tragic names with quite a few instances of nominative determinism (see previously here and here). Some of our vetted favourites (see also here and here) with short biographical entries include: Magdalena Babblejack, Dunwoody Zook, Dr Icy Macy Hoobler, Lester Ouchmoody, Sir Basil Smallwoody, Biff Life and Philander Philpott Pettibone. This cataloguing seems to have unfortunately ended with Gilmour’s death in 1997 but back issues exist. Tag yourself.

7x7 (12. 652)

tariff tango: Canada’s claymation response to Trump’s thirty-five percent levy on exports and other affronts 

modulator-demodulator: a tribute to AOL’s decision to discontinue its dial up service and how technologies gradually fade out rather than disappear overnight  

periphrasis: the search for the perfect English infinitive   

a sunday in the park with georges: the symbolism of class and segregation on display in Seurat’s Bathers at Asnières—see previously—via Damn Interesting  

koń jaki jest, każdy widzi: the Polish language’s first encyclopaedia was an eccentric compilation that didn’t have time for the manifestly obvious 

silicon doodles: a gallery of microchip art added by engineers for fun and whimsy—see also  

comprehensive internal review: Trump orders Smithsonian museums to highlight American exceptionalism

synchronoptica

one year ago: a gallery of images that look like AI but are not (with synchronopticæ) plus the proposed state of Absaroka

twelve years ago: ligature letters 

thirteen years ago: auspicious births, WWII week: D-Day, more Wikileaks extradition manoeuvrers plus plumbing and public conveniences 

fourteen years ago: a balance siphon coffee maker 

fifteen years ago: Lutherstädte 

11 x 11 (12. 622)

ped x’ing: an urban hawk takes advantage of a crosswalk signal to shield it from view as it stalks its pigeon bounty—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest  

whispering gallery mode: peacock plumage can be induced to emit lasers—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

pix: US government going after Brazil’s native digital payment platform—calling it an unfair barrier to trade—meanwhile only President Lula da Silva is standing up to Trump’s tariff bullying  

showrunner: Amazon investing in AI start-up Fable that allows subscribers to make their own TV shows  

pro-somnolence: the technique of cognitive shuffling to quiet the mind and get back to sleep 

manifesto antropófago: a 1928 counter-colonialism and counter-appropriation movement venturing out of São Paulo 

the candy factory: the unique artists’ commune in New York City founded by Ann Ballentine—via Messy Nessy Chic  

query-agnostic adversarial triggers: feline-related textual asides cause marked increase in AI error rates  

one year ago, america was a dead country, now it is the hottest country anywhere in the world: Trump escalates trade war with Canada as Carney suggests they may miss the deadline  

living batteries: cable bacteria thriving in muddy harness chemical gradients to create and electrical circuit and get oxygen in an anoxic environment  

starling network: Benn Jordan saved a .PNG image to a bird by turning a drawing into audio which could be mimicked and reproduced, see also—via Waxy

police procedural (12. 584)

First heard on NPR’s news quiz Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, we learned that over the weekend, police in Wisconsin searched a vehicle with an individual with a warrant out for their arrest—after a drug-sniffing dog gave authorities probable cause. Iconically they found various paraphernalia, a loaded gun, an amount of fiat currency and cocaine in a bag labeled ✨Definitely Not a Bag Full of Drugs✨. The driver and passenger were arrested for possession and as a felon with with a firearm. The photograph of confiscated evidence also features a dice bag used for role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, which should definitely not be considered criminal behaviour especially in the home state of Gary Gygax. It does, however, seem like a scoff-law move not to have stashed their everyday-carry in the more iconic (though possibly more obvious) Crown Royal bag. The Canadian blended whisky introduced on the occasion of the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939 as the first reigning monarchs to visit North America, the purple velvet satchel with golden draw-strings has been part of the brand’s identity ever since and is a genuinely useful object to have handy—and I’ll admit to buying some Crown Royal just to have one around in case of need. One can also order personalised bags from the distillery or request a care-package—so packaged—send to troops abroad.

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  

litra: an ancient Byzantine scale complete with a set Greek letter-shaped counter-balances discovered in Türkei  

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

6x6 (12. 540)

elbows up: on his way to attend the G7 in Canada, Macron visits Greenland, criticising Trump’s repeated overtures to annex the island—see previously  

ethanol orthodoxy: bio-fuel policy has been a net negative for the environment  

ready for prime time: Google text to video service is rolled out despite sloppy results 

c: MI6 appoints its first female spy chief in its one hundred sixteen year history—Dame Judy Dench only played one in the movies  

sidebar: revised injunction restrictions in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill that requires a bond, bribe to judges got even worst—see previously  

dudley do-right: G7 leaders gather in the Canadian Rockies for their economic summit 

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Supertramp (with synchronoptica)

ten years ago: forbidden colours, assorted links to revisit plus cheap printing and chapbooks

twelve years ago: a visit to Wiesbaden-Schierstein plus Snowden’s formative time in Switzerland

fourteen years ago: revitalising a neglected church in Freibourg 

way-marker (12. 518)

Whilst assigned light duty convalescing from an injury in battle with a regiment of the corps of engineers working on the construction of the Alaska-Canada highway to connect the noncontiguous territory with the forty-eight lower states in 1942 near Watson Lake in the Yukon and on the border with British Columbia, homesick GI Pvt Carl K Lindley was tasked with repairing sign post that gave direction and distance to various points along the tote road that had been damaged. Deciding to personalise the project a bit by adding a marker pointing to his hometown of Danville Illinois (forty-four hundred kilometres due southwest), Lindley had started a tradition that continues to this day. First fellow soldiers began adding directions to their own places of birth and once the artery was opened to the public in 1948, travellers from all over the world have stopped at the Sign Post Forest have contributed their own street signs and license plates covering an area of several hectares that extends through the surrounding woods. More from Weird Universe at the link above.

neuspanien (12. 473)

Recalling how their leak of the covert Zimmermann telegram with the German Empire promising to award the lost territories of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico if they invaded the United States and created a new front in the Great War in early 1917 pushed the US to engage in World War I, British intelligence forged (see also here and here) and publicised counterfeit attack plans allegedly by Nazi Germany for Central and South America—still very much considered within the US bailiwick as part of the Monroe doctrine—to motivate the administration of FDR to abandon its policy of neutrality in 1941 as Axis forces reached the French coast. The operation likely conceived by Canadian veteran flying ace and spymaster William Samuel Stephenson, responsible for British security on the continent who oversaw covert intelligence and propaganda efforts in South America, originally intended to leave a copy of the map in somewhere in Cuba in the hopes that American authorities would come across it of their own accord but it appears that Britain presented it to Roosevelt through intelligence channels directly, reportedly seized from a diplomatic courier in Buenos Aires. Presented to the American public as cautious not authentic bur rather secret (note the marking GEHEIM), it is unclear if the president was aware of its true nature.

%dv (12. 409)

Via Super Punch, we learn that supermarkets in Canada are labelling food with a “T” symbol if it’s sourced from the United States and impacted by tariffs. I support this development even at the risk of discounting the role of the consumer in boycotting products exported from America, these extra duties may well seriously harm sales but to be fair it’s also the constant threat of annexation (Ⓣrump in the same breath extolling the economy boon that the surcharges borne by the shopping public will bring—and again we all have trade deficits with our grocery stores—and offering to eliminate them should one become the fifty-first state or relocate all manufacturing to the US) and moreover having RFK, Jr in charge of the Food and Drug Administration and safety regulations (which the administration regards as barriers to free trade) that make the prospect surpassingly unpalatable to the point of down right dangerous to health and wellbeing.

synchronoptica

one year ago: university protests (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: Turkish Star Wars plus assorted links to revisit

eight years ago: security keys, the EPA’s graphic charter, a mismanaged Monopoly, war-drums plus Trump’s daughter at the G20

nine years ago: pop stars and the early internet plus a pioneer of information theory

twelve years ago: architecture of choice for supermarkets

jump cut (12. 378)

A rather aesthetically balanced jumble, we enjoyed this music video for the Montreal band Corridor’s new single. Incorporating collage, cut-up techniques and vintage archival footage, it is a statement on the frenetic nature of contemporary life and the constant vying for attention (see also). The effect is really quite disorienting but rollicking at the same time. See the full video and more from the collaborators at Colossal at the link up top.

cn tower (12. 358)

Topping off on this day in 1975 with last segment of the antenna installed by helicopter skycrane, the Toronto communications and observation spire held the title of the tallest free-standing structure in the world until overtaken by the Burj Khalifa of Dubai in 2007. At just over five hundred fifty metres high, it remains the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, (see also, a member of the World Federation of Great Towers) opening to the public in June of the following year. The CN stands for Canadian National and was conceived by the state railway’s desire to build a large radio and television broadcasting platform to serve the area. Plans were expanded to include the observation gallery—originally the Space Deck but later renamed the SkyPod with a revolving restaurant.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Fabiola Project (with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: the premier of 2001, assorted links worth revisiting plus the money plant

eight years ago: sculpting with cheese plus a doomsday archive

nine years ago: an appreciation of artisanal signage, a disturbing hack plus hybrid husbandry

ten years ago: epic and pioneering roadtrips,  David Rumsey’s map collection plus more links to enjoy

whistle-stop tour (12. 355)

With a similar route transversed just after World War II, proposed by the attorney general under FDR and Truman who feared that Americans were taking the principals of liberty for granted in the post-war years and the project becoming a model for future outreach efforts during the Cold War, the second American Freedom Train, twenty-six cars conveyed by a stream locomotive outfitted with a special livery, began its twenty-month long journey criss-crossing the continent and visiting all the forty-eight contiguous states on this day in 1975, arriving in Wilmington, Delaware in a lead-up to the country’s bicentennial celebrations—see previously. The display cars carried more than five-hundred pieces of America on loan from various institutions, artefacts including: the original constitution, the Louisiana Purchase, Jesse Owens’ Olympic medals, a Moon rock, Martin Luther King, Jr’s pulpit, George Washington’s fire engine and Judy Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz, and was visited by over seven million people in near one hundred forty cities. Afterwards, the cars (without their contents, see also) were purchased by National Museums of Canada and reflagged as the Discovery Train for a similar rail tour.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: Germany legalises marijuana (with synchronoptica) plus April Fools

seven years ago: more early Easter greetings, a monopoly on local media, a vintage April calendar plus Granny’s University of the Imagination

eight years ago: alphabetic architecture, Trump’s supporting cast, more AI pranks plus the proposed Analemma Tower

nine years ago: precision crowd formation plus a once lost species makes a comeback

ten years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, the roots of monotheism plus an overview of heraldic charges

confessions of a young exile (12. 350)

Via friend of the blog sans pareil, Nag on the Lake, we are directed to the reissue of the classic guide to fleeing America by Mark Ivor Satin, neopacifist and radical centrist and expatriate himself, displaced from university in Texas in the late sixties for refusing to take a loyalty oath to the constitution and escaping to Toronto to avoid conscription in the Vietnam War and founding a post-immigration assistance programme for other US refugees, eventually publishing a manual with practical advice on immigration, an underground bestseller with over one hundred thousand copies distributed during the first printing in 1968. Back in circulation since 2017 during Trump’s first term, the guide is garnering greater readership as relations strain and students, educators and scientists (who cannot learn, teach or research in this environment) are pledging to move to Canadian institutions and there are many parallels with the original impetus of the author and current times, though Canada—and other US allies—was never before the target of conquest and punishment, and instead of draft-dodging as a response to vindictive and destructive US policy, it’s a brain-drain and boycotts (regardless of the outcome of capricious tariffs one could give up US-produced goods, streaming services, fast food, apps ecosystems—and make ones own—and branding point-of-sales systems, you’ll survive) or the account of enslaved individual who made it to Canada in 1853 on the Underground Railroad that prefaces and contrasts the original foreword. The stakes are high for the American Project, and there’s much more ponder at the from LitHub at the link above.

9x9 (12. 339)

debonair: an amazing and comprehensive collection of flight attendant uniforms—via Things Magazine  

contrapoints: a documentary contextualising misinformation to point out it is misinformation 

shortened itinerary: second lady’s tour of Greenland (now joined by her husband) is limited to inspecting the troops at Pituffik Space Base  

seagram’s vo: pallets of American alcohol being returned to the manufacturer  

jug band: a fun cover of Beat It!—with a powerful solo bridge by the Bottle Boys 

boilerfaker: a new trend in microdosing alcohol—via tmn  

duty to report: the 1890 attempt to coerce Canada into joining the US backfired spectacularly  

signalgate: The Atlantic editor inadvertently added to a national security counsel group chat publishes transcript in full after Trump administration downplayed the seriousness of the breach 

hmnd: an incomplete bestiary of humanoid robots

6x6 (12. 335)

reading between the lines: Trump regime shutters access to border-straddling opera and library, the Haskell House, which served as neutral territory for family reunions and marriages during his first term’s travel ban  

shreve, lamb and harmon: hidden details of New York City’s iconic buildings—via Damn Interesting 

kennedy center honors: Conan O’Brien awarded the Mark Twain prize for American humour, embracing the irony and tension of the moment 

backstroke of the west: an incomprehensible translation and re-translation of a Star Wars bootleg DVD  

free spaced repetition scheduler: geography with positive reinforcement—via Maps Mania 

opsec: Trump administration inadvertently shared its plans to to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen with a journalist from The Atlantic

where the axe is buried (12. 332)

Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic has an intriguing book recommendation from scifi author Ray Nayler, just the third novel from former Peace Corps volunteer and press attaché and consular officer, that follows his previous works in engaging with themes of artificial intelligence, animal ethics (after several short stories published in prestigious anthologies, his debut book The Mountain and the Sea dealt with the discovery of an octopus society off the coast of Vietnam where Nayler was a special envoy for environment, science and technology in Ho Chi Minh City) his titular latest writing is a geopolitical study that could well be set in the present as a meditation on oligarchy and activism in a polarised world consisting of two competing blocs. In the aligned west, the branches of government have been replaced by AIs referred to PMs who have managed to optimise the messiness of politics and have seemingly solved the ungovernable problems, striking a balance between climate stewardship, modest growth and keeping the populace generally placated. Their foil is known as “the Republic,” a massive state under the tyranny of a immortal despot, whose consciousness has been digitised and is transferred into a replacement body periodically once his current one wears out (with some ill-advised modifications that ultimately reject reincarnation)—though presented to the people as the leader’s intellectual anointed heir. Contrasted with the apparent freedom of the AI governed world, which nonetheless uses inscrutable, paternalistic algorithms for social-engineering and entrapment, subtly limiting the chances of certain for the collective good, the Republic is a totalitarian regime that suffers no dissent or illusory freedom of choice with both systems are on the brink of collapse, betraying their mutual fragility.

i love king charles—sounds like a great idea (12. 327)

In between issuing two new executive orders designed to further undermine recent judicial decisions against the assault on the administrative state to void rulings that the OPM could not order another agency to terminate employees and affirm loyalty oaths and that DOGE could not be refused access to “siloed” data, Trump, on his social media website, linked to an article from a UK tabloid suggesting that during his upcoming, second state visit, Charles will make a “secret offer” for the United States to join the Commonwealth as its fifty-seventh associate member, connected as former territories through historic and cultural ties, in order to dampen tension over pulling in Canada as the fifty-first state and escalating trade disputes and might be received as an alternative to the tenuous relationship to NATO and the EU. While floated and endorsed by the Queen, reportedly, during Trump’s first term, claims that it is being entertained at the highest levels challenge veracity. Charles III as the titular head of state with the wanna be king in fealty sounds preferable however symbolic and outside the realm of possibility and would possibly deflate tariffs by placating his ego. PfRC has reached out to the Commonwealth for comment.

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

listen—strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government, supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony (12. 304)

As the monarch bound by the constitution does not hold political opinion, Charles III has resorted to subtler ways to signal his stance and support, much like his predecessor recently to show solidarity with Canada by wearing his national regalia lately and most recently bestowing a ceremonial sword (see also) to his personal ombudsman and senior protocol officer, the Usher of the Black Rod in the Canadian senate, during an audience with the king. This show of concord comes amid incessant overtures for annexation repeated even during the Quebec hosted G7 conference to reinforce sovereignty as the country’s monarch. Elbows up!

trade wars are good and easy to win (12. 295)

In response to a surcharge placed on electricity flowing into the American states of New York, Minnesota and Michigan, Trump has hurled multiple threats at Canada and the provincial government, accelerating the tariff schedule that is already bringing turmoil to international markets over uncertainty about global supply chains with a rambling post on his social media platform:

Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on “Electricity” coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th. Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous. I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada. If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada. Those cars can easily be made in the USA! Also, Canada pays very little for National Security, relying on the United States for military protection. We are subsidizing Canada to the tune of more than 200 Billion Dollars a year. WHY??? This cannot continue. The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. Canadians’ taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that. The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World — And your brilliant anthem, “O Canada,” will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen! 

In a succession of increasingly hostile and unfocused re:truths, Trump went on to accuse Ontario Premier Doug Ford of stooping “so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the lives of innocent people, as a bargaining chip” and that the country will pay “a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!” Tariffs (which end in FFS) are taxes charged on foreign exports paid by importers and typically pass the cost on to consumers and likely to raise prices for US businesses and shoppers very soon—risking, coupled with flagging consumer, boycotts and investor sentiment and disruption to finished products, the possibility of recession and job loss. Canada didn’t pick this fight and the extra duties run counter to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that Trump negotiated back in 2020, hailing it as the “best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA.”