Seeking the counsel and perspective of history and equipped with the patient and veteran lens of an antique camera that dates back to a time before the current US/Mรฉxico frontier was established and cemented
in a cultish mythology that drapes greed and racism with the civilising sheen of Manifest Destiny and westward expansion, photographer Tomas van Houtryve traced the border as it was before the Mexican-American War, telling the stories of the descendants who instead of crossing the border were rather crossed by it. The collective amnesia and avoidance of a past shameful to recall and confront allows intolerance and the powers of regression not just to keep its pathetic toehold but experience a revival. Learn more about the portraits and landscapes—lines and lineage—at the links above.
Tuesday 9 April 2019
alta california
Friday 15 March 2019
6x6
♫: the Keaton typewriter of musical notation
cryogenics: a covertly filmed movie on the urban legend of Walt Disney’s preserved head shot on location
klimatfรถrรคndring: environmental activist Greta Thunberg nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
jungbauern: a deep dive into the socio-economics and ethnography captured in this 1914 August Sander’s photograph
hecho en mรฉxico: Candida Hรถfer turns her lens towards the faรงades and interiors of the country
clapping music: a performance by Steve Reich that challenges you to keep in sync
Wednesday 13 March 2019
hurdling the language-barrier
Via Nag on the Lake, we are privileged with a preview of the pictogram set from graphic desiger Masaaki Hiromura for the 2020 Tokyo Games. The artist, back in 2004, famously exhibited his Kitasenju—rebus symbols (below) to stimulate both hemispheres of the brain and focus one’s attention. These Gestalt sports symbols conveying athletes in action have a long tradition, first created in response to the growing international character of participants and spectators and each Olympiad gets their own bespoke signage.
This current offering is nearly as visually compelling, captivating and reflective of a certain vernacular of place and venue as Lance Wyman’s iconography (the transport connection is worth considering) for the 1968 Mexico City Games. Much more to explore at the links above.
catagories: ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฒ๐ฝ, ๐, 1968, sport and games
the creeping devil
A native of Baja California, we find ourselves acquainted with another succulent uniquely sessile in its motility. Colonies of the species Stenocereis Eruca grow recumbently and live up to their common nomenclature as they advance across the desert floor, growing from one terminus, up to a metre and a half per year, as the tail end dies, disintegrates and re-fertilises the sandy soil as it deposits a trail behind. Learn more about the cactus’ distinctive lifecycle at the link above.
Tuesday 12 March 2019
rose of jericho
Via the always wonderful and inspiring Nag on the Lake we are introduced to a shrub called Selaginella lepidophylla—a type of resurrection plant—that can cope with the arid and punishing conditions of its native habitat, the deserts of Chihuahua, and survive unscathed near complete desiccation.
During periods of drought—and researchers are looking into how they might reactivate the same dormant genes in food crops to make them sturdier under dry conditions—the plant, also known as the (False) Rose of Jericho, curls up into a ball when dry and unfurls its fronds upon re-hydration and has evolved another clever trick as has its North African cousin—Anastatica hierochuntica, the (True) Rose of Jericho—and can form tumbleweeds to be whisked away to a more favourable location. Since ancient times, farmers (and hucksters) have recognised resurrection plants as vegetable hygrometer to predict oncoming rain. See a time-lapse of the thirsty plant getting a drink at the link above.
Monday 11 March 2019
7x7
pizzo: the Trump Crime Syndicate is expecting host nation partners to pay a big premium for US troops stationed there—via Miss Cellania’s Links
big and heavy: industrial pamphlets, 1932-1941
reef of silence: an underwater necropolis is proposed as a funerary venue that will rehabilitate coral habitats
chichรฉn itzรก: researchers uncover a trove of ancient Mayan artefacts in the Cave of the Jaguar God
shลซnyatฤ: a few moments of guided meditation from Alan Watts
do you know the way to san jose: Silicon Valley plans a monument to Silicon Valley—via Digg
tit-for-tat: though short of needing special entry- and tourist-visas US travellers to Europe will need to pre-register, like with the American ESTA programme
Friday 15 February 2019
10 us code § 2808
Despite some probably ill-advised concessions to Trump’s monument to white supremacy that secured continuation of government operations—sparing hundreds of thousands the indignities of being played as political pawns, Trump has decided to make up for the funding short-fall by declaring the lack of a border wall (see also here and here) a national emergency, siphoning funds away from other military construction projects. The onus of proof, enumerating how this crusade constitutes an emergency and what other priorities and obligations are to be cut, lies with the administration and legal challenges could yet throw the whole enterprise into limbo and spell further delays and brinkmanship.
Monday 3 December 2018
operation faithful patriot
Everlasting Blört introduces us to the extensive portfolio of Barcelonan artist Riki Blanco via his unappologetic (accomodations for inexcusable behaviour should always be called out) portrayal of Trump’s unending campaign stunt, which even the Pentagon can’t abide by calling a mission for its political overtones that not only represents a patently xenophobic Navidad whose goal of disinvitation during the holiday season means that many soldiers deployed to the southern frontier are spending it away from their families and friends, ordered to lob tear gas canisters at massing migrants—for some, fulfilling an errand sought after.
deuces
In 1975, in order to honour a Rosetta Stone level breakthrough in ethno-linguistics by epigrapher Yuiry Valentinovich Knorozov (*1922 - †1999), the state-run printworks of the USSR issued a special edition of playing cards decorated with Mayan priestesses and chieftains and hieroglyphs.
Knorozov, who as part of the vanguard advancing into Berlin at the closing stages of World War II happened to rescue a rare manuscript from a burning university library—the Dresden Codex—one of the then-known three extant codices of Mayan script and named for its permanent home (having been spirited away with other treasures from the fire-bombed city)—a discovery that would go on to inform and inspire his career as an ethnographer specialising in Mesoamerican studies, realised in 1952 that the symbols were representational and phonetic and could consult modern, spoken Maya as a guide. Learn more and see more of the deck at Atlas Obscura at the link up top.
Thursday 29 November 2018
6x6
snow globes: a new holiday tradition to us—sending Street View Christmas cards
ammartaggio: a for the nonce Italian Word of the Day in tribute to the InSight touchdown
appellation d’origine contrรดlรฉe: a detail world atlas to explore gustatory landscapes in detail—via Pasa Bon!
condominium: a library straddling the US-Canadian border has become a venue for emotional family reunions for those (we all are) affected by the Trump administration’s immigration policies—via Super Punch
orden mexicana del รกguila azteca: the Mexican government presents Trump’s son-in-law with its highest honour reserved for foreign dignitaries
jantar mantar: an incredible eighteenth century Indian astronomical observatory whose architecture previsions Brutalism
catagories: ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ฒ๐ฝ, ๐ข, ๐ญ, food and drink, holidays and observances, Mars
Saturday 17 November 2018
7x7
auto-stitch: winners and honourable-mentions in the Epson panoramic photography competition
members elect: a set of emojis illustrates the stark contrast in diversity between the newly elected Democrat and Republican representatives matriculating in the 116th US Congress in January
peak curtains: IKEA updates its 2002 lamp advertisement with the same principal prop
introducing the hemimastix: researchers in Nova Scotia uncover a microbe radically out of place in defined biological kingdoms, via Marginal Revolution
drei haselnüsse für aschenbrödel: legendary German actor Rolf Hoppe, who played iconic and memorable roles as fairy tale kings, cowboys and frightful villains, has passed away
coal in your stocking: classy company (previously—not really I think but just as tasteless) is producing a knock LEGO set of Trump’s border wall
fully-interlocking: jigsaw puzzle manufacturers tend to use the same patterns for multiple puzzles—resulting in surreal compositions, via Nag on the Lake
catagories: ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ฒ๐ฝ, ๐, ๐ท, ๐️, environment, networking and blogging
Sunday 4 November 2018
7x7
gooey, crunchy, cheesy, yummy: Pizza: the Musical by Anthony Clune, Sarah Fiete and Eric Tait, via Everlasting Blört
craft master: paint by numbers with Dan Robbins, an appreciation from Nag on the Lake plus lots more to discover
bauhaus 100: Dezeen continues its special series on the upcoming centenary of the art movement with a profile of Walter Gropius
corporate identity: a retrospective look at the design studio of Massimo Vignelli (previously) and cohorts
rock, paper, scissors: agitating militia groups expected to surge at the border present a more dangerous challenge than the refugees
ghastlygun tinies: MAD magazine remixes Edward Gorey’s macabrely doomed children for the era of school shootings, via Boing Boing
the shape of water: vintage illustration of the alien beauty of the nudibranchia (previously here and here)
Thursday 1 November 2018
rubicon, rio bravo
Despite the refutation on the part of the US Secretary of Defence that “this department doesn’t do stunts,” Trump’s fearmongering is playing to the crowds thronging his Nuremberger rallies with his announcement that he will deploy up to fifteen thousand active duty soldiers to the southern border to act in a support capacity for the army of deputised goons already there, and could hardly be characterised as anything else. Fully thirty-nine military units have been put on notice. Barred by federal law (posse comitatus) from acting in an enforcement capacity within the United States, their role during this mission will be limited to intimidation and building temporary barriers.
Wednesday 3 October 2018
moscow mueller
None of these Trump cocktails from McSweeney’s contributors Wendy Aarons and Mariana Olenko seem for anyone but your sturdiest of drinkers and may not be so effective for drowning one’s sorrows but the menu (both instalments) is certainly worth checking out. We especially liked The Harvey Wallbuilder: vodka, orange juice and Galliano l’Autentico, garnished with an IOU from Mexico—though now we’ve graduated to Impeachment & Cream.
Saturday 25 August 2018
danza de la lluvia
Apparently not contended with contributing to the respiratory distress of millions by manipulating its emissions data, one German automotive manufacturer operating in Cuautlancingo in the Mexican state of Puebla has decided to go full on evil mad scientist with a weather-control machine.
The plant (the largest outside of Germany) employed sonic cannons to disrupt the formation of hail, which threatens to ruin the shiny new paint jobs of cars made there. Local farmers complain of the practise saying it has exacerbated drought conditions and ruined their harvest. Developed over a century ago and mostly used to protect crops from hail damage, scientists are skeptical if the sonic cannons have any effect at all, intended or otherwise. For its part, the automobile manufacturer is reaching out to the community and pledges that the disruptors, which were apparently on stand-by at all times, will only be operated manually as weather forecasts indicate and the company will be hanging a protective netting over its lot as a long-term solution.
catagories: ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐ฒ๐ฝ, environment, transportation
Monday 6 August 2018
7x7
paying it forward: a comprehensive and inspiring look at the “I Promise” school of Lebron James
archival quality: an object lesson on the durability of microfilm, via Slashdot
mercator-projection: Google Maps shifts to depict the Earth as a globe, helping to ameliorate geographic perspectives (previously)
achoque: a convent near Lake Pรกtzcuaro is saving an endangered salamander from extinction—the nuns producing a cough syrup from its skin, via Kottke’s Quick Links
jingfen: a Finnish comic about social anxieties finds resonance with millions of Chinese people
lossless compression: organisms seem pretty indifferent to the effects of squeezing their whole genome into a single DNA molecule
the oxygen of amplification: exploring the conundrum of covering tabloid politics and some advice for journalists on how to not fall into the manipulative traps
Tuesday 17 July 2018
true colours
In order to bypass prevailing homophobic attitudes in Russia, bolstered by laws that make illegal to display the rainbow Pride flag among other symbols, six activists donned the jerseys of six different World Cup teams, we learn via Messy Nessy Chic, to subtly insert themselves as a human banner to promote equity and human rights while the matches were being hosted. Visit the links above to learn more.
catagories: ⚖️, ๐ฒ๐ฝ, ๐ท๐บ, ๐, ๐ณ️๐, sport and games
Saturday 2 June 2018
crony capitalism
As the nihilism of the vapid economic policy and empty pandering of the Trump regime has teetered like a petulant toddler to alienate US allies and is eliciting belligerent responses in kind (the palaver that’s usually reserved—paternally or otherwise—for those suffering under a tyrant whose not to be understood as a metonym for the country or the people under his rule), it’s worth noting that while punishing tariffs are to be immediately imposed on Mexican, Canadian and EU steel and aluminium exports (in order to punish China for depressing steel prices, though the US imports little from them) there are significant concessions and accommodations being made for the world’s second biggest aluminium exporter, a company called Rusal under the control of a Russian oligarch for whom sanctions are pending.
Though unwilling to fully abdicate their duty, the Senate went against Trump’s wishes by imposing new sanctions on several influential business magnates and their enterprises in April 2018, the legislature betrayed a weakness by compromising and offering a transitional period of six months in order for the oligarch to divest himself of his stakes in the aluminium producer and reorganise his businesses, giving American clients more time to get in compliance with the terms of the embargo. Meanwhile, the Trump syndicate is still grifting at the expense of the tax-payers, refusing to recognise a conflict-of-interest for being willing to swap the Republic and world order for his personal gain and there’s been little room for mediation on matters that the US has rubbished unilaterally—like the Iran deal. This trade war will escalate into a full-fledged one if we are not careful and continue to allow both ends to play against the middle.
Wednesday 16 May 2018
inland empire
We are finding the wealth of New World charts depicting what’s presently the State of California as an island and separated from the continent to be quite fascinating.
I wonder what other geographic misconceptions have been perpetrated and fossilised in the same fashion (see more examples here—having discussed this very subject before but having quite forgot—plus another island that existed only as a cartographical error)—the a-drift version of California (the name itself coming from a early fourteenth century romance about an earthly paradise) reappearing over the decades despite the fact that explorers had confirmed that the Baja peninsula was in fact firmly attached. See the whole curated selection of maps and learn more at the Public Domain Review at the link up top.
6x6
el diablo: a ghoulish gallery of the comic and pulp art of Mexican publications of the 50s and 60s
ๅ่ๅญ: Edo period illustrations of Japanese confections called wagashi
in memoriam: ten stunning structures designed by recently departed architect Will Alsop
red carpet: Star Wars actress dazzles with a Vivienne Westwood original that celebrates increasing diversity in science fiction
landlines: an assortment of vintage telephones from Western Electric, via Weird Universe
from bauhaus to our house: celebrating the wide-ranging contributions and influence of author and journalist Tom Wolfe