Via Strange Company, we are serendipitously directed to an academic update in partnership with the University of Gothenburg with its share of megaliths (I still need to repair those posts from our Sweden trip made on a third party app...) on the Carnac Stones, excavating alignments in a previously unstudied area, Le Plasker adjacent to the ten kilometre stretch inland from Erdeven to the Bay of Morbihan, dating after several trials the original placements to 4700 BC (the landscape and the inventory has been significantly altered in pre-historic times and going forward) and thus not only confirming their age but also pre-dating other standing stone arrangements in Europe, like in England and Malta.
Saturday, 12 July 2025
steudadoรน karnag (12. 574)
Thursday, 12 June 2025
11x11 (12. 529)
somewhere beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see: Reuters’ delivers a deadpan juxtaposition of Trump’s attendance at a showing of Les Misรฉrables just after sending in the US marines to quell demonstrations
๐ฉ: defecation syncope and other perils of pooping
renascidos: a cosplay parenting craze with hyperrealistic dolls has captivated Brazil, prompting some legislation against their appearance in public

artek: the upcoming centenary of Crimea’s famed Soviet youth camp that once hosted Samantha Smith—see also
have you tried clearing your cache: a concept artist with a reputation for the mischievous develops a dating website based on harmonious browsing history
pomp and circumstance: a preview of Trump’s grand military parade to be held this weekend—previously
more cow bell: artist Margareta Sarvana performs the Schalger song Itke en lemmen tรคhden (Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen) on a Swedish variety show in 1973—via Pasa Bon!
the schwatz awakens: a preview trailer of the Space Balls sequel to premier in 2027, when Mel Brooks turns 101
simple article summaries: Wikipedia suspends an experiment that would display AI generated synopses after editor and contributor opposition
i’m michael barbaro, see you tomorrow: California governor Gavin Newson interviewed by the New York Times on Trump’s ICE raids
synchronoptica
one year ago: counting crows (with synchronoptica), a Minoan archaeological discovery, emotion-cancelling technology, Trump’s revenge agenda plus assorted links to revisit
seven years ago: internet freedom index, more movies scripted by AI, Reagan tells Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall (1987) plus a meeting of Dear Leaders
eight years ago: memory holes, courtroom sketch artists, waste-water popsicles, mobility and mobile devices plus a surrogate social network
nine years ago: Citigroup tries to copyright the word Thanks, carbon sequestration plus more on the Trump travel ban
ten years ago: Erasmus and free-will, more links to enjoy plus Jung and Freud
Sunday, 11 May 2025
hej, din tok, jag รคlskar dig (12. 451)
Achieving their fourth number one single on US charts on this day in 1991, the song penned by Per Hรฅkon Gissele, one half of the Swedish rock duo, was inspired by a note left by his then girlfriend now wife, โซsa Nordin, on his piano reading “Hello, you fool, I love you,” with the title and the accompanying narration prompted by an interview with about the collaboration of Paul McCartney and John Lennon comparing songwriting together as a “long joyride.” To universal critical and commercial praise, the Roxette album’s title track (see previously) quickly rose in the ranks, securing the same top spot internationally and became one of the best-selling single of the year—we would all take second-billing to the likes of ABBA. A thirty year anniversary remastering (see below) translated into a jukebox musical and the remaining members of the band are still actively producing.
Sunday, 13 April 2025
kvinnan med handvรคskan (12. 387)

one year ago: a self-righting ship cabin (with synchronoptica), a return visit to a local castle plus the cats of the Mexican presidential palace
Sunday, 2 March 2025
speldosa (12. 271)
Via Marco McClean’s Memo of the Air, we quite enjoyed seeing this impressive performance from Swedish folktronica band Wintergatan (the Milky Way, from the term for the galaxy, “winter street”) and the resident multi-instrumentalist and tinkerer Martin Molin’s documented construction of a music box that used cascading steel marbles to play, modulated by a hand-crank, the score programmed on LEGO Technic beams. Nearly a decade later, the group has returned to the idea, with a challenge to build a bigger version (powered by eighty-thousand marbles) robust enough for touring, turning to the Renaissance and contraptions of Da Vinci and Huygens for inspiration. More from New Atlas at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: a 1974 international crisis in West Berlin (with synchronoptica) plus the language of Dune
seven years ago: the science of toast, assorted links to revisit, an adventuresome archaeologist plus an Oscar preview
eight years ago: the women of NASA in LEGO form, a lunar mission, US cracks down on immigration plus more on space-elevators
nine years ago: perfect for Roquefort cheese, prohibition in Canada plus a luxurious time-capsule in Palm Springs
ten years ago: recruiting for the Second Crusade, more links to enjoy, misinformation plus that dress
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
11x11 (12. 172)
concrete feats: the landmark Vรฅga Water Tower on coast Varberg, Sweden
ลฟpy v ลฟpy: a look at the world of espionage in the Middle Ages—via the new Shelton wet/dry
obelisks: researchers discover a new form of life with circular RNA—that appear less alive than viruses
we were wrong that day—we broke the law: convicted January Sixth capitol rioter known as MAGA Granny rejects clemency offer

cinematic universe: The Goonies and Back to the Future happened on the same day in 1985—via Kottke
ััะธัั: foundry excavating Ukrainian fonts from the underground
dark web: Trump has granted an unconditional pardon to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht
red team: research students—under supervision recreate—viral pathogens identical to those that caused the 1918 influenza pandemic
lexicon: a glossary of medieval words from Middle English whose meanings have shifted
solar gate: 4D printed blinds mimic plants to open and close on their own
Thursday, 26 December 2024
smultronstรคllet (12. 113)
Considered not only as one of the director’s best works but also counted among the greatest films of all time, Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries premiered on this day in Stockholm in 1957. Conceived during a long drive from the capital to Dalarna via Uppsala, Bergman’s hometown, he imagined how it might be if one could open a door and be transported back to one’s childhood—realising that his medium could make such a transporting experience a reality and began the screenplay. Similar to Bergman’s own cross-country journey, he places his protagonist in the passenger seat of a lengthy car ride, a disaffected county doctor who gave up his practice to pursue a specialisation in bacteriology, to Lund to accept his Doctor Jubilaris (jubeldoktor) degree from his alma mater fifty years after the original conferring, driven by his daughter-in-law, who share a mutual dislike for one another’s company. Nodding off, a series of daydreams and nightmares set off by a succession of hitchhikers picked up along the way that cause the veteran academic to reminisce and reevaluate his life and choices. Half-dozing, one of the hitchhikers is transformed into an examiner from his dissertation committee, asking he defend his thesis but is suddenly unable to muster any rebuttal. The dream examiner then recites his proposition for him: “A doctor’s first duty is to ask forgiveness,” concluding, “You are guilty of guilt.” Idiomatically the title of the film (the Wild Strawberry [Patch]) signifies a hidden place with sentimental value.
Saturday, 21 December 2024
11x11 (12. 101)
boughs of holly: a gallery of Edwardians dressed up as Christmas trees—via the Everlasting Blรถrt
gifcities: the Internet Archive’s gallery of vintage animations
hb3:
Pornhub is pulling out of Florida over a new law that requires age
verification on adult websites with a government issued form of
identification—don’t say you weren’t warned
diplomatic corps: Trump pre-appoints a slew of woefully unqualified ambassadors

neolithic octopoid: revisiting the Silurian hypothesis through cephalopods—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest
by-line: Pulitzer’s year in news stories
perfect fit content: Spotify ghosts human artist, avoiding royalties
the campaign for economic democracy: Jane Fonda’s political action committee was funded through sales of Workout, inspired by serial presidential candidate and entrepreneur Lyndon LaRouche
a court of thorns and roses: sexual congress with supernatural beings is illegal in Sweden—via Strange Company
retrospective: around the world in the exhibitions of 2024
and the blue and silver candles that would just have matched the hair on grandma’s wig: Postmodern Jukebox’ take (previously) on a reviled holiday tune
Friday, 15 November 2024
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?
Thursday, 18 July 2024
evil malรถrt (11. 701)
Already a somewhat notorious and reviled Swedish-style liqueur called bรคsk, bitter and flavoured with wormwood and anise—Sweden being one of the few countries that never banned absinthe—a bartender is leaning into its noxious reputation with the Chicago distillery Jeppson (Bรคska droppar is the most popular domestic label, drunk as a digestif), which imported the blend from the home country in the 1920s, first sold door-to-door as a medicine to bypass Prohibition restrictions. Pure described as tasting like “heartbreak and pencil-shavings” and previously offered as a boilermaker and during the emergence of the last brood, with an infusion of seventeen-year cicadas—no one asked for this—the latest concoction calls for a wash of truffle and sesame oil, chilli peppers, briny cuttlefish ink soaked in tobacco—specifically Newports. More about its reception—“grandma’s furniture from when she still smoked”—at the link above.
Thursday, 9 May 2024
nailed it! (11. 549)
Via Super Punch we learn—and on par with the Finnish practise of awarding a hat and a sword—that Sweden carries on with the unique and obligatory tradition, described as “Lutherishly,” for PhD candidates to nail one’s thesis, disseration to a wall or plank a few weeks prior to one’s defence. Referred to a spikning, students will post their paper (nicely bound by the university’s library press, and with the written approval of their advisor, signed off as Mรฅ spikas, “May be nailed”) in the halls of their respective departments for others to pursue and dispute. The comparison to the sixteenth century revolutionary protest against the selling of plenary indulgences seems apt but Martin Luther took the idea from academia and not the other way around.
Wednesday, 1 May 2024
binomial nomenclature (11. 525)
Prior to the publication, on this day in 1753, of the work by Carl Linnaeus (see also), listing every known species of plant at the time (around six thousand specimens compared with the over four hundred-thousand of flowering plants alone described today), there was no consistent standard for the scientific naming of botanic organisms, later adopted by consensus for all forms of life, and most exemplars would be given a long though descriptive polynomials, like herbaceous perennial catnip—now Nepeta cataria, before called Nepeta floribus interrupte spicatis pedunculatis. The genus, the taxonomical rank between species and family, was followed by a specific epithet or “trivial name” developed out of a student project to classify what cattle forage. Arranged into a thousand genera, there were no accounts of what the species looked like in this text and one needed a companion volume to cross reference.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus Citizen Kane (1941)
two years ago: the Moonies, more text-to-image generation, more links to enjoy plus an Esperanto punk band
three years ago: Operation Neptune Spear (2011), Mister Rodgers testifies before Congress, dogs with torches in paintings, shrinking glacial maps, more Citizen Kane plus retiring the Op-Ed section
four years ago: Ballet Zoom, pigeon calls, the Penny Black (1840), the Feast of Saint Joseph, Soviet Winne the Pooh, a charting hit from Tim Curry, the flag of the territory of Florida plus an anime selfie filter
five years ago: edible seaweed containers plus an album from McGruff the Crime Dog
Saturday, 6 April 2024
concours eurovision de la chason (11. 470)
With the finale held on this day fifty years ago, held in the arts venue the Dome of Brighton with veteran television personality and presenter Katie Boyle—winner of the 1973 contest Luxembourg having declined the honour of hosting the event consecutive years in a row due to cost constraints for their public broadcaster, Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Tรฉlรฉdiffusion, some of the more memorable acts of the Eurovision Song Contest (previously) with an iconic and transporting recognition owing to the winners’ costuming and performance include an interlude by the Wombles, Olivia Newton-John, Mouth and MacNeal and entrant Pooky from newly admitted Israel, whose prog and jazz fusion would prove enduring. France did not participate that year out of respect for the national mourning period for the death of president Georges Pompidou, withdrawing a few days before, and contest was not aired until several months afterwards for fear that the country’s own submission, “Sรฌ” finishing in second place, might have influenced votes on a confusingly worded nation referendum on whether to keep or rescind newly introduced legislation (see above) that allowed for divorce in country—“yes” being the ballot initiative to outlaw the recently enacted liberty.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the UK tax year plus assorted links to revisit
two years ago: artist Raphael, fungal communication plus playing around with a text-to-image generator
three years ago: Ping-Pong Diplomacy, the first Tony Awards, the Debatable Lands, plans to build the World Trade Center, duelling songs plus the modern Olympic Games (1896)
four years ago: more true facts from Ze Frank plus a cute typing tutor
five years ago: the Bavarian Socialist Republic (1919) plus a community Spring Cleaning
Wednesday, 27 March 2024
pรฅskhรคxa (11. 455)
Via Messy Nessy Chic, we are reminded (see previously) of the Swedish and Finnish legend of the Easter witches who fly off to Blockula (Blรฅkulla, cognate with Blocksberg or the Brocken in the Harz mountains and host to a similar congress) to meet the Devil on the night between Holy Wednesday (Dymmelonsdag, also known as Spy Wednesday to mark the bargain of Judas and his betrayal of Jesus’ whereabouts) and Maundy Thursday (Skรคrtorsdagen). Though with dark origins in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the witch mania and hunts in Scandinavia, when implements that witches could use for their magical flight, broomsticks, fence posts, beams and farm animals, were locked away, modern traditions include children dressing as witches, to commemorate the ride and rites, and go door-to-door for Easter treats in exchange for hand-drawn greetings.
Tuesday, 5 March 2024
omero nel baltico (11. 401)
Via the New Shelton wet/dry, we are directed towards an interesting academic speculation from amateur historian Felice Vinci who transposes the epic, decade-long, decade-delayed homecoming of Odysseus (see previously here and here) from the Mediterranean to the higher climes of the Baltic Seas. Positing that conditions during the Holocene Climate Optimum during the time of the Trojan War made northern Europe more like Greece, the main battleground was on the plains of Finland, with Circe’s Isle Jan Mayen Island, the Sirens and Cyclops on the Norwegian coast, shipbuilding Aetolian Pylene the German town of Plรถn and Thebes Stockholm. Though many of the toponyms in Homer’s poem are frustratingly nondescript (most believed that Troy was legendary until it was discovered) and malleable, like the Matter of Britain or Charlemagne’s heritage claimed by many peoples, Vinci’s theory is an intriguing idea but does not seem particularly convincing or rigorous and follows a tradition of projection and syncretism. Much more at the links above.
one year ago: The Jaywalker (1956), the Great Michigan Pizza Funeral (1973), more needful punctuation plus assorted links to revisit
two years ago: the Iron Curtain (1946), a cinematic preview in retrospect plus translation choices for a global product
three years ago: ultracrepidarian, photographer AL Schafer plus another MST3K classic
four years ago: assorted links to revisit, Sinclair Computers (1981) plus Disney’s back catalogue
five years ago: artist Gunta Slรถlzl, parcours, Florida Man plus the Odyssey as a cruise itinerary
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
my, my, how can i resist you? (11. 310)
Coincidentally sharing some of the same lyrics (Mamma mia, let me go!), on this day in 1976 ABBA unseated Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” from its nine-week run at the top of the UK singles charts with the opening track on their eponymous third studio album. Resistant to the idea of promoting the song for fear of over-exposure (and due to the composition being shopped around before it was offered to the group), it was first trialled in the Australian market but the overwhelming positive reception prompted ABBA to release it as a single in Britain, soon becoming an international hit. The B-side of the UK version had the instrumental track “Intermezzo № 1” with variants including “Hey, Hey Helen” and “Tropical Love Land.”
Monday, 22 January 2024
bildruta fรถr bildruta (11. 287)
We appreciated the introduction to the portfolio of Swedish artist Iris Wildros through these mediative, contemplative frame-by-frame looming animations, which provide just as much enhancement and focus for the creator as for the observer. Multidisciplinary, Wildros has a preferred medium to reflect on change and return over time, dissecting what’s otherwise overwhelming into a more manageable component that still hangs, appends itself to a system as a whole rather than an isolating Much more on Wildros’ works exploring nature and cycles in a gallery of GIFs at the links above.
Tuesday, 16 January 2024
try once more like you did before (11. 273)
Released on this day in 1979 as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Voulez-Vous, this song about a “little girl” was informed by Simon and Garfunkel’s cover of a Peruvian standard “El Condor Pasa”—and subsequently recorded in Spanish after its critical acclaim as part of Gracias Por La Mรบsica. One of ABBA’s biggest hits to date (see previously), it was showcased in a UNICEF charity concert, broadcast from a plenary session with royalties going to support the children’s emergency fund.
latrinalia (11. 272)
Via the peripatetic online explorations of Messy Nessy Chic, we are referred to the doodle books, Klotterbรถckers—a five volume collection, of Stockholmer Bengt Claudelin, professionally an assistant to a wealthy art-collecting countess (whom eventually bequeathed her collection along with Claudelin’s research to the state though first censored then forgotten in the archives), of the graffiti in public conveniences, documented in his free time. There’s the usual toilet humour and bragging (see also for another ethnographic study) but an overwhelming preponderance of propositioning and profusion of male prostitution. Although the entries (often illustrated which Claudelin faithfully copied) are anonymous—one group in particular stood out: soldiers, for whom it was not uncommon almost a century earlier to offer sexual favours for sale, particularly given the low wages and dearth of obligations during the duty week, to have some extra spending money for the weekend and a proper date. Claudelin’s patron, Wilhelmina Hallwyl, donated her home and collection on the condition that it would remain unchanged and always kept together in 1922, offering like her secretary’s hobby, a unique insight into the lifestyle of the Swedish nobility of the era.
catagories: ๐ธ๐ช, ๐ณ️๐, ๐, libraries and museums
artist sjรถรถ (11. 270)
Courtesy of a retrospective exhibition at Oxford entitled the Great Cosmic Mother, we were pleased to be acquainted with the paintings of radical anarcho-, eco-feminist and founding proponent of the Goddess Movement whose work coincided with the woman’s liberation push of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Monica Sjรถรถ was born in the Vรคsternorrland region on New Year’s Eve 1938 and left home aged sixteen to travel Europe working as an agricultural labourer and find work in modelling, eventually taking up residence in Bristol, where she remained for the rest of her life—very well known beyond all borders, she taught and corresponded with several influential authors, neopagans and artists, including Judy Chicago, Alice Walker, Starhawk and Shekhinah Mountainwater. The show’s name comes from a pamphlet later expanded into a book co-authored with Barbara Mor covering ancient history and the origin of religion and spirituality, positing that women were the first practitioners—a text still part of the syllabus for many courses on women’s studies, mythology and theology. Much more from Hyperallergic at the link up top.
synchronoptica
one year ago: another MST3K classic, AI designs novelty socks, an Ayn Rand play plus assorted links to revisit
two years ago: more links to enjoy, professional salutations plus haunted postcards
three years ago: your daily demon: Vapula, an anatomy lesson, contemporary irregular verb forms, special stamps for the Lunar New Year plus large Cyrillic numbers
four years ago: birb-watching, the League of Nations, the Wollemi pines plus the US congress transmits articles of impeachment for Trump
five years ago: the first orbital docking, a gilded picket fence for Mar-a-Lago, more on Prohibition in the US plus the White House serves fast-food
catagories: ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐ธ๐ช, ๐, ๐จ, libraries and museums