10x10 (12. 183)

compliments of the season: Poseidon’s Underworld reviews 1973 British anthology series Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries 

hagiography: breathtaking hidden murals in the Cathedral of Angers depicting the life of local saint called Maurille, who fled due to embarrassment for failure to perform a miracle, unveiled for the first time 

wmw: a list of endangered historic and cultural sites for 2025, around the world and beyond 

infinite nonsense honeypot: a lure for AI scrapers  

there is a plot—what would be the point of just a bunch of things: legendary director David Lynch dies, aged 78—see previously

run the bricks: a mother in New Zealand completes a hundred metre sprint barefoot over a track of Legos—setting a Guinness Record—via Metafilter 

but is it like the old playboy magazine—do you have essays there by the modern day equivalent of gore vidal and william f buckley jr: US supreme court justice Samuel Alito asks if people visit PornHub (previously) for the articles—via Super Punch 

cozy rewatch recommendation: the 2003 New Wave film The Dreamers (Innocents) that follows the exploits and adventures of an American university student in Paris during the 1968 riots—via Messy Nessy Chic  

𒀸𒋩𒆕𒀀: a paranoid ruler’s illiteracy and a torched library behind a glimpse of everyday life in the Assyrian Empire 

celebrity is a broad church: BBC1’s 1985 entertainment magazine Friday People

synchronoptica

one year ago: artist Monica Sjöö (with synchronoptica), generational perceptions, an ethnographic study of bathroom graffiti, another banger from ABBA plus words for lighthouse

seven years ago: laser-cut note pads, Madrid reinstates direct rule on Catalonia plus free-floating exoplanets

eight years ago: theatres protest the inauguration of Trump 

nine years ago: a slipper-shaped wedding chapel

ten years ago: misattributed quotations plus McDonald’s new slogan

torchwood (12. 162)

The always interesting Kottke turns our attention to a curated collection of all the Doctor Who intertitle or title cards used over the course of the long-running sci-fi series that addresses the change in typefaces, establishing shots, fades and introductions over the years. In the early years each serial was given its own title whether a stand alone bottle episode or part of a larger story arc. The classic era ones are the most visually engaging and all can be found at the show’s dedicated wiki.

synchronoptica

one year ago: where’s the beef (with synchronoptica) plus more blogging from the South Pole

seven years ago: the dossier on Trump’s Russian ties,  cosmopolitan chocolate bars plus stationers and stationary

eight years ago: a Manchurian candidacy

nine years ago: assorted links to revisit plus packing up Christmas for next year

ten years ago: Goethe plus the mythos of oaks

hearth and home (12. 148)

We’ve received a happy status update regarding this rather spectacular temple to outsider art, Ron’s Place in Birkenhead outside of Liverpool, a flat hidden within an unassuming brick residence holding a scarcely seen gallery of hearths, altars and murals created by renter Ron Gittin, now catalogued and conserved. The landlord a permissive sufferer of such flourishes was however mostly ignorant of the extent of the artist’s embellishments (as well as his friends and family upon his unexpected death in 2019) that celebrated the multi-hyphenate’s interest in Antiquity and repository of his other creative pursuits. Let’s wish all property owners could be so tolerant of their tenants’ eccentricities and had faith for the next occupant’s inheritance. Much more at the links above.

dk’tronics (12. 137)

Although the only promotional tie-in video game that I can recall playing was Kool-Aid Man for Intellivision—a strange concept indeed where two waifish children search a haunted house to make a batch of Kool-Aid to summon the exorcist and stop the thirsty ghosts, “Oh yeah!”—we really enjoyed this review of early 8-bit licensed games based on British television programmes. Most of these ventures were slapdash, modular affairs that bore little resemblance to the actual show and game play was probably confusing—though through emulators, one can give all these and more a try without waiting for them to load—like this screen-grab for one based on the sitcom about four very different college students rooming together. The game-makers were not able to secure right to the series’ theme (see also) but composed a nice chip-tune alternate. Much more from Curious British Telly at the link up top.

pray, observe the magnanimity (12. 126)

Following a soft-opening on this day in 1879 at the in hopes to forestall another episode of “copyright piracy,” Gilbert and Sullivan held the official premiere of their comic opera on New Year’s Eve at Fifth Avenue Theatre of New York City. The perfunctory but well attended and critically acclaimed performance was staged by a touring company in order to secure a British copyright in Paignton near Torquay, and with American law at the time respecting no foreign intellectual property rights, the collaborators with a US premiere hoped to avoid an encore of the previous year’s debut of HMS Pinafore, successful in London but rapidly taken up by American acting troupes with some one hundred and fifty unauthorised productions that took license with the libretto and netted no royalties for the authors. Publication of the score was also delayed until their reputation and credentials could be cemented, the show opening in London the following April. Both transatlantic runs were very well received and the narrative of an apprentice being released from his indenturehood with a sort of rumspringa from the impressment he was accustomed to (pirate tropes were quite in fashion at the time) and the piece endures as the duo’s most performed and referenced works.

banco de portugal plot (12. 055)

Presenting a letter of introduction, credentialed and endorsed by the Royal Joh. Enschedé of the Netherlands, chartered maker of banknotes and other security documents, on this day in 1924 Artur Virgílio Aves Reis instigated one of the biggest financial frauds in history when he entered the offices of Waterlow and Sons Ltd, another respected and venerable printer of stock certificates, currency and postage stamps, and claiming to be on a secret mission on behalf of the governors of his native Portugal’s central bank, sought to fill a commission of two-hundred thousand, five hundred escudo notes (the cifrão $, from the Arabic for zero is a double-bar dollar sign, is the currency symbol and is used as the thousands and decimal point separator) for circulation and fund an infrastructure project in colonial Angola. Conceived during a short prison stint for illegal arms trade where he encountered his future associates and amid an absolute printing frenzy in Germany to counter hyperinflation, Aves Reis correctly wagered he could pull off a grand counterfeiting scheme, approaching both printers to produce the high denomination notes with identical serial numbers, then hiring an army of drones (zangões) back in Porto to launder the illicit millions, eventually establishing his own bank to expedite the process and avoid suspicion. The massive infusion of forged money, after having purchased a controlling share of stock in the central bank and nearly taking it over, was uncovered exactly one year and one day later with grave repercussions for the country’s economy and the ensuing financial crisis promulgating a collapse of the fragile first republic for a series of dictatorships.

30 top chart hits (12. 039)

Conceived by Virgin Records in London and taking its name from a 1920s advertisement for Danish brand bacon (the pig would become the mascot for most of the series, Richard Branson had purchased the poster from a nearby antiques shop), the first compilation album was released in the UK on this day in 1983, with hit tracks including Phil Collins’ You Can’t Hurry Love, Boy George’s Karma Chameleon and Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, the biggest hits from artists under their own label. An immediate commercial success, anthologies were put out three times per year—with the best-selling edition (seven times platinium) from 1999, NOW! 42 featuring Britney Spears, Shania Twain, Lou Bega, Backstreet Boys, Robbie Williams and Phil Collins’ with You’ll be in my Heart. There have been many spinoffs (and imitations) of the concept including music television channels, Now Dance, Now That’s What I Call X-Mas and NOW! 62 released in 2005 as a digital download.

cp 1919 (12. 037)

Discovered by post-graduate astrophysics student Jocelyn Bell Burnell using the Interplanetary Scintillation Array of Cambridge Observatory on this day in 1967 whilst searching for radio signals in space, because of its precise regularity, it was dismissed by colleagues as terrestrial interference initially,but combing through reams of data, Bell Burnell correctly pinpointed its origins to celestial coordinates of nineteen′ nineteen′′ right ascension, twenty-one° declination, coming from the constellation Vulpecula—for which it was given the designation LGM-1, little green men, supposing it might be an alien beacon of some kind. The discoverer, however, correctly posited that the source was a rapidly rotating neutron star. Fellow researchers received a Nobel prize in 1974 for their work in radioastronomy but Bell Burnell’s contributions were overlooked (for her part, she maintained that she did not believe that the committee should be in the business of honouring research assistants), and the novel class of star is now recognised as a pulsar, emitting beams of radiation from its poles and have proven to be an indispensable lighthouse in the cosmos for detection and triangulation, a throughline for detecting the first exoplanents and the phenomena of gravitational waves among others. In 1979, for their debut studio album, Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division adapted a ridgeline plot of the stars’s radio emissions’ pulses for the cover art.

i am an authorised representative of the intergalactic mission (12. 030)

Courtesy of our faithful chronicler, a decade ahead of the more infamous Max Headroom Signal hijacking (caution, flashing images), we learn that on this day in 1977 viewers in southern England watching the ITN 5:10 pm news summary got quite a shock when the audio was commandeered by a deep buzzing and a electronically garbled voice addressing the world for some six minutes before returning to regular programming. Claiming to Asteron of the Vrillon race of extraterrestrials, the speaker delivered a message on behalf of the Ashtar Galactic Command (after the name of beings, ascended masters several contactees since the early 1950s claimed to have channelled as mediums):

For many years you have seen us as lights in the skies. We speak to you now in peace and wisdom as we have done to your brothers and sisters all over this, your planet Earth. We come to warn you of the destiny of your race and your world so that you may communicate to your fellow beings the course you must take to avoid the disaster which threatens your world, and the beings on our worlds around you.

This is in order that you may share in the great awakening, as the planet passes into the New Age of Aquarius. The New Age can be a time of great peace and evolution for your race, but only if your rulers are made aware of the evil forces that can overshadow their judgments.

Be still now and listen, for your chance may not come again. All your weapons of evil must be removed. The time for conflict is now past and the race of which you are a part may proceed to the higher stages of its evolution if you show yourselves worthy to do this. You have but a short time to learn to live together in peace and goodwill.  Small groups all over the planet are learning this, and exist to pass on the light of the dawning New Age to you all.

You are free to accept or reject their teachings, but only those who learn to live in peace will pass to the higher realms of spiritual evolution. Hear now the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, speaking to you. Be aware also that there are many false prophets and guides at present operating on your world. They will suck your energy from you—the energy you call money and will put it to evil ends and give you worthless dross in return.

Your inner divine self will protect you from this. You must learn to be sensitive to the voice within that can tell you what is truth, and what is confusion, chaos and untruth. Learn to listen to the voice of truth which is within you and you will lead yourselves onto the path of evolution. This is our message to our dear friends. We have watched you growing for many years as you too have watched our lights in your skies.

You know now that we are here, and that there are more beings on and around your Earth than your scientists admit. We are deeply concerned about you and your path towards the light and will do all we can to help you. Have no fear, seek only to know yourselves, and live in harmony with the ways of your planet Earth. We here at the Ashtar Galactic Command thank you for your attention. We are now leaving the planes of your existence. May you be blessed by the supreme love and truth of the cosmos.

The transcript varies slightly according to the recollection of witnesses, and the station afterwards apologised for what was described as a “breakthrough in sound,” the network technically explaining how such a hoax could have occurred though the prank would have demanded not only considerable coordination and expertise to pull off. No one ever came forward and the author of the missive is unknown and is accepted as gospel by some in the ufology community—and in any case not a bad message for humankind. 

peoples’ choice (12. 003)

Polls open now through 28.November, the OED presents its shortlist of nominees for the Word of the Year for 2024, with only one actual neologism in romantasy (see previously, albeit the portmanteau for the literary genre dates back to 2008 when the German arm of publisher Random House tried to categorise its translations of English romance romances with an element of fantasy). Other contenders include brainrot, a term first used by Henry David Thoreau in his 1842 Walden; or, Life in the Woods, and dynamic pricing, a calque of the Swedish coinage of economist Gunnar Myrdal in 1927 as dynamiska prisbildning which has also seen a revival this past year with heightened public awareness of surges, gouging and exploitation in retail spaces and for gig-workers. More older words with new meanings are lore, slop and demure. Which one is your pick?

curtain call (11. 986)

Whilst familiar with some of these traditions and prohibitions, like the ghost lights that even burned in theatres when everything was shut down during COVID, we didn’t know the possible origins of the taboos, like not mentioning the Scottish play, and enjoyed reading this overview of backstage customs and lore.

Although sounding superstitious, whistling in a theatre was discouraged as sailors were often employed as stage crew for their skill with ropes and knots and brought with them their jargon of command whistles and an actor would not want to countermand or confuse an order, lest a prop be dropped on their head. First performed during a time when most theatrical companies had a set repertoire, rather than courting bad luck, the suggestion of Macbeth was an admission that perhaps a season’s run with flagging audiences could be turned around with the staging of a really popular piece. Wishing one to “break a leg” has a myriad of possible roots, from understudies politely wishing an accident would befall their respective principals so that they could assume the role, to cross a threshold—“the leg line” of a concealing stage curtain and take a bow before the audience to the most likely etymological source, both Wanderwörte and retronym and a bit of mishearing, with the entertainment industry directly borrowing from the idiomatic wish amongst Luftwaffe pilots during the first and second World War Hals- und Beinbruch, “may you break your neck and leg,” as a corruption of the Yiddish phrase: הצלחה און ברכה—that is hatsloke un brokhe, “success and blessings.” Professional dancers, on the other hand, exclaim “Merde!” to one another, harking back to times when horse-drawn carriages would bring spectators and a lot of dung in the streets of a venue would mean a solid box-office.

omg monteagle—if someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time (11. 975)

Guardian columnist Marina Hyde welcomes the arrival of the fifth of November, admonishing us to remember another guy—Guy that tried to blow up the whole system of government, quite literally even if Fawkes and compatriots might argue that the thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were a metaphor. Ultimately thwarted by an internal leak, a warning to a relative in the House of Lords on a piece of parchment—“that could have also been a social media post on X (which back in the seventeenth century was known as Twitter)” and publicly condemned by ye olde fake news media, the failed insurrection is a day of celebration for Britain.

the balfour agreement (11. 959)

In anticipation of control of Mandatory Palestine from the Ottoman Empire as a result of ongoing negotiation and with the express understanding that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities,” the British government proclaimed its support of a “national home for the Jewish people” in a missive from Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfoud to Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild on this day in 1917. The pledge to this community leader appeared in the press a week later. First drafted three years earlier to secure Jewish support in a wider war by appealing to ambitions for statehood, an exploratory committee was launched by Sir Mark Sykes (see above) but without consultation with the local Palestinian population. Although Israel did come into existence until after World War II concluded (the term used, “national home” was intentionally ambiguous and had no basis in international law, unclear how it might manifest, as a republic, a territory within the mandate or a spiritual centre), the declaration of support (with approval from the US and other Allies) strengthened the movement and has led to one of the most intractable geopolitical situations of the twentieth century and beyond.

the difference engine (11. 904)

Courtesy of ibīdem and following the same steampunk theme, we are directed to a presentation and pitch delivered by Charles Babbage (previously), disgraced and dismissed by his domestic backers to recuperate trust in his project, that addressed the concepts of software and programmable computers back in mid-September of 1840, couched in of course much plainer language as no one had such vocabulary in their quiver beforehand and discovered while researching an alternate history by the co-author of the above speculative work of science fiction. Building off the analogous punch-cards of the Jacquard loom, Babbage seemingly convinced his audience of prestigious and influential figures of the potential of his proposal, but having deposited such a world-changing idea, the outreach proves to be a dud and goes nowhere—with possibly some intrigue and industrial espionage behind this ultimate reception and protectionism over progress. Much more at the links above.

per scientiam tempestates prædicere (11. 842)

Coinciding with Cloud Appreciation Day (see also), the Met Office, the national weather and climate service, introduces a new unofficial mascot called Christopher Cumulonimbus as a series of stickers and sharable animations to express not only the forecast but also the moods it might leave you in.  These certainly might countenance a reaction to weather.

holidays are jollidays (11. 829)

Via the always excellent Nag on the Lake, we are directed to a retrospective exhibition of nostalgic photographer John Wilfrid Hinde whose carefully staged compositions influenced the style of picture postcards made famous through his commissioned series of Butlin’s holiday camps from the 1960s through the early 70s. Founded by Billy Butin in 1936 after a frustrating stay at a bed-and-breakfast in Wales during which he found himself locked out of the accommodations by his landlady during the day (common practise at the time) and was inspired to create seaside resort destinations that were affordable or the working-class with plenty of amenities and excitement. During the immediate post-war period, they were extremely popular with the franchise spreading across Britain, Ireland and the Bahamas but succumbed in the 1970s and 1980s to cheap package holidays to the Mediterranean. Most of the facilities are closed and long demolished or repurposed (see previously), with a few exceptions like the pictured pool lounge of Bognor Regis, but all the parks with attractions like heated pools, monorails, gondolas, sports facilities, stages for theatrical performances and rides but have a living legacy in the millions of postcards meticulously framed by Hinde.

in my considered judgment, we have comported ourselves in a manner faithful to our history (11. 815)

As the first major celebration of the bicentennial of the American revolution, the contemporary governors of the original Thirteen Colonies were invited to reenact, reconvene the First Continental Congress (see also) in Philadelphia, gathering for an event at the original venue of Carpenters’ Hall on this day on this day in 1974.

Chaired by Virginia governor Mills E Godwin, Junior as presiding officer, delegates re-legislated the several grievances lodged against the Crown, not quite revising history and remaining patriotic but coming to some re-evaluation and different conclusions on oppression and tyranny. The original 1774 summit, whose delegation makeup was more diverse than that of two centuries prior and included women and minorities, adopted among other things the Articles of Association that called for a general boycott of British goods, which was soon escalated by punitive sanctions against the Colonies.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: the first in-flight movie (1925) plus Excalibur found

eight years ago: the flak towers of World War II, weather at Jupiter’s pole, more on Merkel’s hand posture plus Michaelmas

nine years ago: the innovation of the stirrup, a vintage arcade in Saint Petersburg, a Bell logo redesign, emoji urls plus more on stave architecture

ten years ago:  the NATO summit in Wales

the farnborough international airshow (11. 809)

The biggest aerospace exhibition behind Paris, the showcase of civilian and military aircraft hosted on even years in Hampshire (the French take the odd) has debuted the Concorde, the Vickers, Airbus 380, the F-35 and the Eurofighter. The week-long event for clientele and only open to the public on the ending weekend on this day in 1974 hosted the arrival of a US Air Force reconnaissance jet setting a new transatlantic crossing record (still unbroken), from the environs of New York to London in just under two hours for a subsonic flight. Unfortunately this achievement was overshadowed by a fatal accident by a prototype Sikorsky Blackhawk attack helicopter that crashed with attempting an aerobatics demonstration. Both test pilots were killed and development of the aircraft ceased afterwards. A later model was eventually chosen in 1976 for the programme, named after the epithet and nom-de-guerre of Native American Sauk leader Mahkatêwe-meshi-kêhkêhkwa, whom fought alongside British forces during the War of 1812 in hopes of ridding his tribe’s lands of American settlers.

halleluja, hare, hare (11. 804)

As our faithful chronicler reminds, George Harrison was found guilty of unintentional plagiarism on this day in 1976 for his 1970 hit single My Sweet Lord (previously) of The Chiffon’s, Ronnie Mack 1963 song He’s So Fine recorded with an ensemble from Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Bad Finger, becoming the top release in the US and UK of any ex-Beatles artist. Produced by Phil Spector, whom had underwritten the hits of many girl groups from the 1950s through the seventies, there was a failure to note this inspiration—which Harrison subsequently attributed to the out-of-copyright gospel hymn “Oh Happy Day” during sessions for the triple album, All Things Must Pass. Despite the judgment in favour of infringement and later cases to define homage and sampling, the tune of universal religiosity and discovery endures.

trial balloon (11. 778)

Much in the same way as Brexit provisioned and prefigured the politics of MAGA and the election of Trump, the same amplified contagion unchecked

that fuelled violent race riots is subjecting Britain to an experiment by omission and testing the bounds of social media advocacy for by an arbiter of truth who is incautious about dissemination of falsehoods and faces few challenges or repercussions in the echo chamber, star chamber for being critical of a government whose policies he is in disagreement with. With the guardrails removed and no consequences for weighing in on political matters—over that stay of contrition of four years ago during the insurrection went social networks promised to do better about policing dangerous and illegal content, ranging from political violence, interference operations, disenfranchisement to COVID conspiracies—indeed what is to stop influence peddlers and grifters and avowed agents of chaos from forecasting or declaring that the US (or any other polity) is on the brink of civil war? Such outrageous and irresponsible punditry has always existed but now has an insurmountable volume.