cfc

Despite far less consensus and surety regarding the exact culprit among the scientific community compared to the unity that we have for anthropogenic climate change today, the world’s nations unilaterally came together to draft and enforce a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the outcome of a convention held in Montreal which became an international and universal priority on this day in 1987.
Depletion of atmospheric ozone first discovered and researched, with its grave implications limned and communicated during the intervening years, within just a little more than fourteen years public and political will aligned and overcame deniers and those in impacted industries—aerosol and cooling, with a managed phase-out of the most harmful compounds that fostered willing partnerships and commitments for reform. Among the few environmental success stories to hold up as examples of what we can achieve (though we should also be vigilant to avoid losing those gains and there’s unfinished business yet), human change has allowed the ozone layer to repair and replenish itself.

little matron

Via Nag on the Lake, we are treated to a playful stop-motion short from award-winning Dutch-Canadian filmmaker Jacobus Willem “Co” Hoedeman. “Matrioska” (1970) was one of his first commissions for the National Film Board of Canada—having immigrated there in 1965 on the hope that the esteemed institution might hire him on. After producing several films including a treasury of Inuit folktales, Hoedeman went to Czechoslovakia to study puppetry and currently serves as an advisory member of the board and animation consultant. Explore more of his works at the link above.

Matrioska, Co Hoedeman, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

le chameau

On this day in 1969, coincidently on the same day as the shipwreck of the French naval vessel The Camel occurred two hundred forty-four years before in passage from La Rochelle to the colony of New France in North America, the high court of Canada awarded the recovered cache of gold and silver coins to the wreck’s finders, a trio of treasure-hunters, after being tied up in litigation for years regarding the venture partnership’s liabilities to one another. The specie (then valued at seven hundred thousand Canadian dollars was meant to pay workers and the ship’s manifest of some three-hundred passengers included the replacement Intendant, governor-general, for Nouvelle-France. Some of the coins and the rest of the maritime artefacts are on display at a museum in Halifax.

SENĆOŦEN

The orthography of the First Nations Saanich people from British Colombia and Washington state employs (with the exception of ‘s’ which acts like an apostrophe) only uppercase letters, making it one of the unicameral alphabets, like Hangul, Arabic, Georgian and Tamil, something rare for a Latin-based script though all languages start out with just a single case. The International Phonetic Alphabet uses only lower case Latin and Greek letters, so a second example, though not a genuine writing system but rather something epiphenomenal. Created by linguist Dave Elliott in 1978 to conform to the sound and grammar of the language, it saw a resurgence and renewed interest around 2011 when its unfamiliar characters (Ⱥ and Ⱦ) received their own Unicode range and a texting programme was developed.

histoire de perles

Via the always engaging Æon Magazine, we are subjected to the rhythmic and beautifully brutal stop-motion animation from filmmaker Ishu Patel, illustrating the cycles of evolution and competition with glass beads—inspired by the handiwork of the Inuit. This 1977 acclaimed short starts from a single cell and concludes with humanity in all its dreadful excellence with a stark warning against a nuclear arms-race.

Bead Game from National Film Board of Canada on Vimeo.

jour du déménagement

Previously we had encountered a statutory day on which leases expired in old New York, obligating renters to re-locate previously but had no idea that it occurred elsewhere much less was still a tradition upheld in Quebec, courtesy of Nag on the Lake who has some personal experience with must surely be a day of collective mania, wherein up to a quarter of a million households across the province and tens of thousands in Montréal alone not totally satisfied or otherwise tethered to their current accommodations lift up and change apartments.
Although formerly urban leases ran from 1 May to 30 April, like in the historic case in New York above to prevent landlords (seigneuries) from evicting tenants during the winter months, the provincial government decided to move the event to the summer, so as to be less disruptive to school children and place it on the national holiday, today—Dominion Day, Fête du Canada / Canada Day, so the people who chose to take part in this tradition were not sacrificing a day of work or extra time off. Movers assisting those not entirely doing it themselves were also entitled to holiday pay for their work.

ô canada

Officially made the national anthem by royal assent a century later on Dominion Day, the melody, composed by Calixte Paquet dit Lavallée commissioned by the lieutenant governor of Quebec, of the song was performed in public for the first time on this day in 1880 as accompaniment to a Saint-Jean-Baptiste (the Nativity of John the Baptist, his feast day often associated or conflated with the summer solstice) fête held in the provincial capital.
The original lyrics by barrister and poet Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier were in French and have remained unchanged. An English version, modified three times subsequently to make the language more inclusive, came in 1908—often performed bilingually with code-switching alternating verses to demonstrate the country’s diversity—and First Nations’ versions (ᐆ ᑲᓇᑕ) introduced beginning in the 1990s.

bill c-195

Whilst American engineers were busy shutting off their part of the Niagara Falls by means of a cofferdam apron to staunch the flow of water and allow for repairs of the eroded riverbed and cliffs, the Canadian senate was legislating and passed on this day in 1969 amendments to the law to decriminalise abortion and homosexual relations.
Introduced originally by then Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau, the passage allowed for the sale of contraceptive medicines and devices, consensual gay relations for persons of majority in private dwellings, as well as tightening laws regarding gun sales and ownership, drink driving, telephonic harassment and cruelty to animals. Trudeau famously defended his stance to the press by declaiming an often repeated phrase, «l’ État n’a rien à faire dans les chambres à coucher de la nation.» “There’s no place for the State in the bedrooms of Canada.”

culvert journal

Whether diverted, enlisted as part of the sewer system or simply buried under development, the notion of hidden and lost rivers and urban watercourses has been a particular fascination (previously) and we were especially pleased to come across some speculative spelunking both around London—courtesy of Things Magazine—and Toronto, via Maps Mania. While the London show is more testimony of lives reconstructed through artefact and mudlarking and the Toronto one is an interactive exploration, even connecting to tours that trace the routes of these former tributaries, both are pretty engaging and in both places, the secret, subterranean rivers and creeks have been championed to preserve their memory.

the longest day

The retreat and evacuation of British forces at Dunkirk having taken place and commemorated on the eve of the Normandy landings that would take place five years later, D-Day, codenamed Operation Neptune, was a long time in development and planning. Though failing to achieve immediate gains for the Allies battling Nazi Germany with only two beachheads linked and sustaining heavy casualties, the manoeuvre that took place on this day seventy-five years ago established a Western Front in Europe, a wedge to divide German efforts since it began its march towards Moscow with the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, and began the liberation of occupied France. 

Recognising that troop strength and materiel had not yet built itself up to the level to counter the German forces (mindful of the aforementioned withdrawal), the plan was delayed for months and focus was strategically shifted to North Africa, with the Allies eventually winning that theatre in 1943. With Nazi forces weakened and demoralised, commanding generals looked again to the French coast—planning with great secrecy and deception so defences could not be marshalled and the Allies could retain an element of surprise.  The carpenters that built the wooden planning map for General Eisenhower’s headquarters in Southwick House near Portsmouth were detained from April to September to prevent accidental disclosure of the location of the landings while a local medium was imprisoned for witchcraft lest she divine the plans.   

The date was chosen due to the best possible tidal conditions and phase of the moon and any postponement would see the situation degrade quickly. May we never forget the sacrifices of that day and may they never be in vain.

flagellation, regulation, integrations, meditations, united nations, congratulations

Referred by Messy Nessy Chic, we are afforded a chance to spend some time in the Montreal hotel honeymoon suite (Room #1742) of John and Yoko Ono Lennon refurbished ahead of the fiftieth anniversary of the Bed-Ins for peace that began in late March 1969 in Amsterdam with a two-weeks intervention. The next iteration was planned for New York but Lennon was barred entry into the US over a previous marijuana possession charge and so moved to Canada. Having arrived on 26 May and inviting guests over the ensuing week like Timothy Leary, Dick Gregory, Allen Ginsburg, Tommy Smothers and others, all took part in a recorded chorus of the anthem “Give Peace a Chance” in the suite on this day.

ain’t misbeheavin’

It’s with a heavy heart that we say good-bye to humourist and old-timey, Tin Pan Alley virtuoso Leon Redbone (RIP, *1949 – †2019).
Adopting the stage name for his first acts in Toronto in the 1970s, the Cyprian-born Dickran Gobalian cultivated his signature look of dark sunglasses, a Panama hat and a skinny black tie, Redbone gained mainstream commercial success, though a recipient of critical acclaim by those in the business for quite some time with a cover version of the now problematic Christmas ballad “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and performed the theme song for the 1980s television sitcom Mister Belvedere. Redbone announced his retirement from recording in May 2015, citing health concerns, his eclectic musical tastes and knowledge of past genres making him much older and wiser than his years attested to.

vie et habitat des animaux fantastique

Via the always amazing Maps Mania, we are directed towards an incredible interactive version of Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin “Carte Genlle. de la France Septle. Contenant la Descouverte du Pays des Illinois” (1675) mapping an expedition two years earlier down the Mississippi River geographically as well as noting the mostly real though sometimes purely fantastical beasts and at other times challenged for the right habit in a comprehensive chart and travelogue for the governor of New France.
Be sure to check out the source link up top for more original and  historical maps in the same vein and other more contemporary examples of limning in terra nullius and terra incognito as points unknown with comparable esoteric warnings (hic sunt dracones and other related cautionary signs).

wampum

Via Colossal, we are introduced to the impressive portfolio of First Nations artist Ruth Cuthand through her 2009 series of beaded, quillwork mats that depict Old World diseases that trade brought to the indigenous populations of the Americas, with the media of inexpensive beads referencing their high value as a barter item and representing their transactional relationship, accepted in exchange for pelts and land. Trade itself, aside from its expected trade-offs of convenience over tradition and a less than fair prevailing-rate, became a disease vector for these viruses, decimating many tribes ahead of the colonisation by Europeans. More to explore and reflect on at the links above.

elle est ohoho!

Via Dark Roasted Blend’s latest Link Latte (with much more to explore), we are introduced to the musical stylings of pop duo Ottawan (Annette Eltice and Patrick Jean-Baptiste) with their 1979 break-through single D.I.S.C.O., the initialism spelt out, “She is D, delirious—she is I, incredible—she is S, superficial—she is C, complicated—she is oh-oh-oh! Even if this group strike you as new, you are probably familiar with their other hit to reach the charts with Hands Up! (Give me Your Heart) which was covered by the Norwegian band Hype in 1995—which became a pretty popular standard in Europe. Hands up, baby, hands up! Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme.

animus in consulendo liber

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the intergovernmental military alliance between twenty-nine North American and European countries (up from twelve founding members) came into existence through a treaty agreed upon by member states on this day in 1949—signed with the charter coming into force in August of the same year.
With administrative and operational headquarters split between the Belgian capital and the city of Mons, the organization expanded from an invitation for the Benelux countries to join the pact of mutual assistance struck by France and the UK with the Treaty of Dunkirk in March of 1947, to come to one another’s aid in case of aggression by the Soviet Union or a resurgent Germany. Inclusion of West Germany in May of 1955 prompted the Soviet Union to create the Warsaw Pact. On NATO’s fortieth anniversary in 1989 when it would begin to still the dissolution of its chief foil and counter valance, the organization officially adopted a hymn—its motto above Latin for “a mind unfettered in deliberation). The present flag was first hoisted and flown in October 1951, replacing an earlier version that was essentially the coat-of-arms of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), designed to be straightforward and inoffensive (though suggestive of this rather antithetical corporate logo) and emphasise a mission of peace.

ofglen

Correspondent for Mary Sue Kaila Hale-Stern invites us to stroll the streets of Gilead—escourted of course—with an exclusive peek at the 1985 Margaret Atwood dystopian and depressingly relevant The Handmaid’s Tale brilliantly adapted in graphic novel format by artist Renee Nault. Awash with symbolism, the story was a natural candidate for a fresh visual treatment and compatriot Canadian Nault was specifically selected by Atwood for this distinction.  See more panels at the link above.

i’ve got a mule and her name is sal

In order to better protect the body of water and the ecosystem it supports from pollution, residents of Toledo on the shores of Lake Erie voted by a sizable margin to great it legal personhood, granting the lake (or some one championing it) the ability to sue (or be sued). The concept of a judicial personality (persona ficta) has been fraught and arguably abused in the past with the notion of lifting the corporate veil and giving businesses the rights, responsibilities and liabilities of the stakeholders (natural persons) but can in some cases be a force of good, this being the first under US jurisdiction.

8x8

actuation: robots will construct a new robotics science museum in Seoul—via Nag on the Lake

the way of flowers: an expanded look at the aesthetics of ikebana (previously)—the traditional art of Japanese flower arrangement

go transit: the vehicle just gets you there


high-intensity incidental physical activity: studies suggest that the most impactful forms of exercise aren’t exercise at all

gambay: an interactive map of Australia’s aboriginal languages—via Maps Mania

just want your extra time ... and your gif: a collection of officially-endorsed Prince animations

osborne bulls: the backstory of those iconic silhouettes that dot the Spanish countryside along freeways

beat of a different drum: a marching band with “robotic” music 

vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas

Lush and indulgent, via Things Magazine, we are introduced to the portfolio and gallery showings of artist Andy Dixon, whose paintings are not only homages to classical conceits on the subject of impermanence but are also quite regularly commissions of the houses and tastes of patrons, teasing out the inflection point between wealth and art, as a store of the former and as a ostentatious and conspicuous display of the former.