day ten (13. 246)

Iran announces the appointment of a new Supreme Leader in Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah, with a fresh wave of missile strikes against Israeli, the country’s military answerable to no authority during the interregnum. As US government employees are evacuated from Riyadh among renewed attacks on American assets in the Gulf and a thwarted sabotage of a Saudi oil field as black rain falls in Tehran and Bahrain, Trump declares any decision to end the war will be in mutual consultation with Netanyahu. Israeli ground troops invade southern Lebanon. French president Emmanuel Macron travels to Cyprus in a show of solidarity. World markets continue to roil and far eastern nations like the Philippines and Myanmar order energy cuts in response to the Middle East crisis, calling for a four-day workweek, banning private vehicles and avoiding non-essential travel to conserve fuel.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: a fateful date (with synchronopticæ), furniture music, outlawing revenge porn plus a towering temple in Sri Lanka

thirteen years ago: navigation stones, humorist Sean Tejaratchi plus Pax Americana

fourteen years ago: an upcoming trip to Prague 

fifteen years ago: solidarity forever 

sixteen years ago: complex credit schemes 

9x9 (13. 220)

a real chadwick: nineteenth century missionary and polyglot John Ross’ role in why Hangul uses spaces whereas other Asian scripts do not  

the count: an annual tally tradition from Diamond Geezer—see also  

τεσσαρακοντήρης: the ancient super-galley commissioned by Ptolemy IV Philopater, so named as it was rowed by forty 

lettres decoratives: open source letterform templates inspired by the artisanal signs of Paris  

calendar girl: RIP Neil Sedaka—more here  

abc schengen: a bundle of fonts inspired the typefaces of the transportation industry—see previously  

δώδεκαθεϊσμός: an introduction to the practitioners of the Hellenic religion who worship the twelve Olympian gods 

happy map: in an increasingly fraught world, a deep longitudinal survey of tiny and momentuous moments of joy  

data ≠ knowledge: poetic reflections on large language models by Rishi Dastidar—via Web Curios

je sème à tout vent (13. 212)

We enjoyed perusing this abecedary of desk pads (blotters) promoting the Petit Larousse junior encyclopaedic dictionaries, above motto, “I sow to all the winds,” usually depicted on the cover by a figure blowing dandelion seeds, la dent-de-lion. It’s a bit of a brain teaser to figure out what the words are being depicted in French—like D for douche, dolmen, dinde. Scroll through the whole alphabet and see what for us non-francophiles needs some puzzling out.

synchronoptica

one year ago: microbar banners (with synchronopticæ) plus Napoleon returns from exile (1815)

twelve years ago: a direct connection between Europe and Brazil to bypass US undersea cables 

fourteen years ago: the myth of the eight hour sleep 

fifteen years ago: Germany surpasses France as a European travel destination 

la jetée (13. 187)

Courtesy of our faithful chronicler, we are informed the influential sci-fiction featurette by Left-Bank writer-director Chris Marker (previously) premiered on this day in 1962. Set in a post-apocalyptic Paris, with survivors of a nuclear war living in the catacombs and galleries beneath the Palais de Chaillot (the neoclassical showcase built for the Exposition Internationale of 1937 on the grounds of the partially demolished Palais du Trocadéro—the temporary headquarters of both the UN and NATO and backdrop of Hitler’s short tour of the city with Albert Speer in 1940 and Victory in Europe celebrations five years later) with the remaining scientific community conducting research into time travel, sending test subjects to various dates in the past and future and change the course of history and avert the conflict that has all but wiped out civilisation. Challenged to find suitable test subjects mentally stable enough to withstand the rigours of temporal displacement, they pin their hopes on a man with a vague but ingrained memory from before the war, a startling encounter he witnessed from the observation platform (“the jetty”) from the Orly airport. His intervention seems promising but is caught in a paradox and can affect no change. The narrative is told almost exclusively with a photomontage, cycling through still images with no dialogue other than an expository voice-over. The short was adapted and expanded by filmmaker Terry Gilliam with his 1995 12 Monkeys, a debt very much openly acknowledged in the movie’s opening credits..

fondation vasarely (13. 182)

Dedicated on this day in 1976 with its inaugural opening, the architectonic museum in Aix en Provence showcases the pioneering Op Art designs of Victor Vasarely (see previously) and promote his vision of making the arts accessible for all and founding a city of tomorrow. Forty two six by eight metre cells constructed in situ house various exhibits. Coming out of the Bauhaus school tradition, the Hungarian-French artists went on to produce abstract paintings, cladding, façades and sculptures that referenced optical illusions as a sort of visual kinetics (plastique cinétique) that relied on the shifting perception of the viewer—a stylistically satisfying middle-ground between the moving artwork of Calder, Duchamp and Man Ray and the disorientating MC Escher.

etaoin shrdlu, esaitn ruoldc (13. 181)

Again via Web Curios, we are pointed to an addictive little bilingual (I wasn’t up to trying in French however) word game that is agreeably one of the best we’ve come across in some time and as likely to return to after our streak with Wordle clones. Simple and straightforward, each round presents three lettered tiles to build words from in order of the letters presented and are awarded points based on Scrabble rules, in turn derived from the titular letter frequency. There are daily challenges and play can continue with random combinations. Gently timed, once one runs out of chances, there’s a break down of one’s score and the optimal word from the dictionary, though one can’t dispute the lexicon.

destot’s space (13. 179)

In a round-about vocabulary lesson (courtesy of Curious Notions—such a journey down rabbitholes is referred to as a desire path as a metaphorical extension of an unplanned trail caused by foot-traffic as a shorter route, and now one can better document those strayings in Wikipedia at least—though often not short-cuts), we learn that the eponymous anatomical feature of the human wrist is named for the Lyonnaise sculptor, anatomist and pioneering radiologist Étienne Destot. Within months after Röntgen announced his discovery of clinical uses for x-rays, our good doctor was taking thousands of diagnostic radiographs of patients (see also) to develop better treatment strategies and in many cases eliminating red herrings to tackle true ailments.  Destot’s enthusiastic adoption of the new technology, however, led to severe radiation damage in his hands, forcing him to abandon his work and his eventual death. The namesake void the doctor identified through crisper x-ray imaging of the hands between the hamate and lunate bones is not chiefly cited in medical literature, but rather for discussing the critical historicism of Jesus, proposing that this was the site of the stigmata during the Crucifixion—the study, quest (quête) as an academic effort started by contemporary Alsatian physician and fellow multi-hyphenate Albert Schweitzer. For his contributions to medical science and lab safety, Destot is commemorated along with the Curies, inscribed on the Monument to the X-Ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations on the campus of Sankt Georg Hospital in Hamburg along with some one hundred sixty other doctors, chemists, physicists, technicians and assistants who sacrificed their lives in the advancement of medical science commissioned by the Deutsche Röntgengesellschaft in 1936. The memorial was expanded in 1959 to include the names of many of the victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

9x9 (13. 165)

shoulder angel: the Scottish philosopher teaching one AI model morals—via Marginal Revolution 

pdf forensics: a case study of the sanitisation and hidden data through the Epstein files—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

individual neutral athletes: a historic look of Russia at the Games 

secretz de l’histoire naturelle: a late fifteenth century illustrated guide to exotic, far-flung lands  

the ents showing up to take down isengard: more reflections on Bad Bunny and friends Super Bowl half-time show 

volunteer army: the recruitment call enlisting anonymous editors to stave off AI from Wikipedia—via LitHub  

herren-t-shirt olympisches erbe der olympischen spiele in berlin: commemorative apparel from the 1936 Games from the official shop is met with backlash 

it’s the people’s house and it’s also the presidents home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the white house: annual bipartisan meeting of US governors called off when Trump excludes Democratic state leaders 

human prerogative: on the imitation game, all exercises—even the boring ones—having value and why computers can’t surprise

synchronoptica

one year ago: US to stop minting pennies (with synchronopticæ) plus DOGE and the Deep State

twelve years ago: the Atlantis Haus 

fifteen years ago: Egypt in media res

 

société centrale canine (13. 160)

The shelter where we adopted our rescue dog has the convention of assigning unknown birthdays to the Fourth of July, as a touching sign of independence (see also here and here). In France, however, one’s fellow-walkers and veterinarian can surmise the age of one’s companion by their name (which to my mind might impose the potential for compromised passwords) by a tradition established in 1926 by the registry of pedigree dogs that pairs a letter of the alphabet to each year. Not enforced by nearly universally adhered to (though we suspect all pet parents give out several names and find ways around prescriptiveness), the options cycle back every twenty years rotating through twenty initials (with the exclusion of some deemed too difficult, K, Q, W, X, Y and Z as difficult to find French names for, like for hurricanes in the US). Last year as a century ago was an A year with 2026 back to B for the puppies. They’re all good girls and good boys.

simply paris (13. 157)

Among the latest tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice, there was an email with the above subject line picturing an unidentified couple at various tourist attractions of the French capital in July of 2009. Not only is the woman’s face obscured with redaction but so is for whatever reason the visage, arguable amongst the most-well known in the world, of Leonardo Da Vinci’s portrait of Mona Lisa—possibly betraying the use of AI or poor taste and certainly reaffirming the rather sloppy job that’s characterised this mandate, which the department has claimed to have satisfied its legal obligations but has failed to uphold its own expressed pledge and excuse for the months of delay of protecting the identity of the victims of Epstein and associates’ sex-trafficking and rape, including so far the names, images and personal information of around a hundred survivors of the the expansive scandal.

zeuhl (13. 153)

In the conlang Kobaïan invented by drummer and founder of the experimental prog rock and jazz fusion French band Magma, Christian Vander, the title means in combination with ẁortz means “celestial force” and has become a sub-genre unto itself distinct from the related Space Music and Kosmische Musik sound. Established two years after the death of John Coltrane, unmatched and unmeted, Magma’s members sought in all reverence and humility to carry on the transcendental tradition and create something new and never before experienced. The band’s tracks, stretching across seven albums and with a couple of inspired surrogates, notably in Japan, Belgium and Sweden as well as garnering French compatriots, also extensively sampled from the neoclassical canon, including the structure of Carmina Burana. The chief and often exclusive lyrical language for Magma’s songs, the group still continuing in one form or another to the present, the libretto for a literal space opera about a group of human refugees settling on the distant world of Kobaïa after the Earth was rendered uninhabitable. Much more from John Coulthart’s journal {feuilleton} with performances, appearances and cross-overs at the link up top.

9x9 (13. 148)

times new resistance: a typeface disguised to appear as the US government endorsed font but furnishes subversive autocorrect suggestions  

there are four lights: Star Trek: TNG episode “Chain of Command” is an allegory for domestic abuse  

prosperity gospel: at the US National Prayer Breakfast (see previously) Trump announces upcoming ceremony to rededicate America to Jesus  

dominotier: the guild of wallpaper makers and the many applications of their craft  

plasticine dream: render yourself in claymation in real time  

🦞: more on the theology created by AI agents—see previously—via Web Curios 

almanac: US Central Intelligence Agency in an act of cultural vandalism is not only sunsetting its World Factbook but also deleting its archives  

ill may day: Sir Ian McKellen masterfully recites from the apocryphal Shakespeare play about a sixteenth century anti-immigrant riot  

blackletter fraktur: on how the Gothic typeface, based on French handwriting, became synonymous with Nazism despite Hitler’s ban on its use—see previously—via Kottke

7x7 (13. 112)

les chansons de bilitis: a century old literary hoax of a fictional lesbian poet incited dialogue and reevaluation on the genuine figure of Sappho and queerness in antiquity  

apt mascot: a manufacturing error created the Cry-Cry Horse and its popularity for the Lunar New Year has prompted suppliers to reinstate the stitching mistake  

tam o’shanter: a poem for Sunday’s Burns Night  

ts and cs apply: new updated user agreement for US TikTok draws scrutiny regarding its privacy policy, including sexual orientation, mental health and immigration status  

coming attractions: an imagined trailer for Star Trek: Voyage to Vengeance as directed by Quentin Tarantino 

the disappointed tourist: an elegy to lost places  

composition yellow, blue, black red and white: reevaluating the cross-dressing Cornish artist Marlow Moss whose work influenced that of Piet Mondrian—via Kottke

synchronoptica

one year ago: jazz artist Keith Jarrett (with synchronopticæ), a Bolivian abundance festival, assorted links to enjoy plus Trump pledges to overhaul federal emergency response agency

thirteen years ago: the assassination of Caligula 

twelve years ago: impending base closures and a reduction in US forces 

sixteen years ago: relaxing US campaign financing reforms plus petty kingdoms 

selbstbildnis mit zottelhut (13. 095)

Through the rather remarkable discovery of a previously unknown miniature portrait commission kept in the archives of the sitter’s descendants for over five hundred years, we are introduced to the early Renaissance mannerist artist called Hans Baldung “Grien”—adding an nickname he acquired from his student days for his penchant in working with the colour green, incorporating it into his monogram ʜɢʙ. After studying under master Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg Baldung founded his own studio and workshop in Strasbourg, supplementing his projects by painting the aristocracy of the Free Imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. An advocate of the Reformation, like Dürer and Cranach, Baldung produced paintings, woodcuts and prints (also working in stained glass and tapestries) traditional religious settings with protestant iconography and the usual mythological allegories but also indulged a life-long preoccupation with the subject of witches and witch-hunters, among the first artists to concentrate on the theme (his monicker may also have been a conscious echo of the German word “grienhals,” a German synonym for hexe) as well as nontraditional motifs like Phyllis and Aristotle, the female form in general and depictions of eroticism, heretofore unseen in the art world in any medium.

dateline (13. 090)

On this day in 1609—with some evidence that the periodical was in circulation already for four years—the first newspaper in Germany and among the first worldwide was published, Avisa Relation oder Zeitung, by printer Julius Adolph von Söhne in Wolfenbüttel (also the home of the Jägermeister distillery) in Niedersachsen with the issue carrying developments and happenings from various countries up-to-date (see also), with the presumption it went out then. The French daily of record Le Figaro was first distributed on this day as well in 1826, named for the Beaumarchais character from Le Mariage de Figaro with a line from his closing monologue “Sans la liberté de blâmer, il’nest point d’éloge flatteur”—without freedom to criticise, there is no room for praise. The first issue of of the journal Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners later to become the Paarl gazette was published in as the first periodical in Afrikaans language in 1876. The leading news agency and wire-service of Italy, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) was also founded today in 1945 by a consortium of the resistance to Mussolini’s fascist regime.

fourscore (13. 088)

Acquainted with vigesimal systems of counting, and with due apologies to French for thinking their way was over-complicated for ways of enumerating values above sixty-nine in most Francophone areas, shifting from decimal to base-twenty—for example: quatre-vingts for eighty or soixante-quinze (sixteen-fifteen) for seventy-five—we were however unaware of the rules and conventions for Danish numeral. Like German, for anything above twenty, with 21 pronounced as enogtyve one-and-twenty, and similar to French change to vigesimal for values above fifty with halvtreds(indstyve) literally a half-third or two and one-half (times twenty), 70 being halvfjerds, half-fourth or 3½ × 20, firs for 80, a shortened form of four-twenties, and the number 99 pronounced as nioghalvfems, nine and half-fifth or 4½ × 20.

synchronoptica

one year ago: knowing things is hard (with synchronopticæ), a looming trade war plus a ceasefire deal in Gaza

twelve years ago: woolly pigs plus economic recovery in Iceland

thirteen years ago: Wikitravel plus the history of PEZ

fourteen years ago: national firewalls 

fifteen years ago: licensing likenesses 

sixteen years ago: Martian terrain 

seventeen years ago: yellow journalism 

9x9 (13. 084)

foreverware: Eerie, Indiana was the Stranger Things of the late 1990s 

correlation is not causation: the mullet index of South American regime change—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

thirty-six views of the eifel tower: Henri Rivière’s woodblock prints inspired by the ukiyo-e scenes of Hokusai—via Messy Nessy Chic  

yakity-yak: prolific toy inventor Eddy Goldfarb at 104—via Damn Interesting  

the high price of exceptionalism: America’s problems are solved problems  

classifieds: an appreciation of the enduring earnestness of Craigslist, one of the few remaining refugees of the early internet before everything was commodified  

waggle dance: an optical compass inspired by bee navigators  

business in front, party in back: an annual hairstyle competition at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg  

mr burns: a post-electric play: post apocalyptic Simpsons stage show to have cinematic adaptation

8x8 (13. 069)

leturfræði: an exploration of the graphic design heritage of Iceland through its greatest, recently departed historian  

shoyu-tai: a fibre-based soy sauce single-serve container as an alternative to disposable plastic droppers  

unfcc: Trump administration announces withdrawal from dozens of United Nations chartered organisations, saying their mission does not align with the US agenda  

i’m t?w?e?n?t?y?-f?i?v?e?: artist records one word per day for a reflection on the passage of time 

amour-propre: Chinese buzzword of the year 爱你牢记 (ai ni laoji, love yourself, my dear)—see previously 

hemlock: Texas university has forbidden a professor from teaching a course on Plato  

anodyne: a Singapore based technology company invents biodegradable, paper batteries that rely on no rare earths  

gobelins: the famed French school of animation has a YouTube channel that features student films

9x9 (13. 032)

christmas day storm: heavy rains and landslides batter Los Angeles area  

vertex summary: holiday reception by renowned fiddler in Nova Scotia cancelled due to AI search erroneous labelling the performer a sex-offender—via Super Punch  

soft cell: astronaut Tibor Kapu debuts geometries that can only exist in microgravity aboard the ISS  

high holidays: an assortment of newspaper clippings on confiscated marijuana Christmas trees of yesteryear  

autocoup: a viral fake video of an overthrow in Paris is throwing the government in turmoil  

daemon est deus inversus: the occult imagination of W B Yeats  

winterval: seasonal breaks and the signal most observed public holiday—maybe not the one you’re thinking of—from Quantum of Sollazzo  

neighbourhood watch: AI powered app issues false crime alerts across US, terrorising residents  

spirit of the season: US launches strikes against ISIS militants in Nigeria—accused of persecuting Christians 

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronopticæ), Wild Strawberries (1957) plus a classic from Goorge Harrison

thirteen years ago: an antique Bible 

fifteen years ago: Boxing Day and Second Christmas 

ys (13. 014)

Via Strange Company, we learn that a substantial undersea wall discovered by marine archeologists off the coast of the Île de Sein near Finstère in Bretagne—which has its own lore according to classical sources and historians, including Strabo, writing that men were forbidden on the island sacred to the Gallizenae, a caste of Druid priestesses whom could control the wind and foretell the future, but also accused of luring sailors to the their deaths, bashed on the rocky cliffs. Researchers believe that the seven millennia old wall may have been a fish-trap to harvest between tides that became submerged or possibly a protective dyke (though unlikely that humans could have forward-planning) and abandoned with sea-level rise, and pre-dating the ensemble of menhirs of the area, may be behind the legend of the sunken kingdom of Ys.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the year in memes (with synchronopticæ), the first European communications satellite plus US federal government narrowly averts a shutdown 

fourteen years ago: a chilli recipe plus Christmas markets

fifteen years ago: Alien Jesus 

seventeen years ago: a remembrance of my grandmother