200 (12. 080)

Though without the nudity and slightly brain-melting morphing of characters of the animator’s best known short in 1982’s Malice in Wonderland, we appreciated being able to attribute the style to director Vince Collins (still actively creating) through this tribute to the United States’ then upcoming bicentenary (see previously)—commission by USIA—with a psychedelic review of its history through iconic symbols of Americana (caution flashing images). Maybe there will be a follow up for 2026.

*    *   *   *   *

 synchronoptica

one year ago: Hyperalleric’s Year in Memes (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: cartoon characters with alcohol problems, alternate Nativity plus Volta’s battery

eight years ago: more Trump appointees, assorted links to revisit, a sad Christmas tree for Rome plus Wonder Woman dropped as a UN goodwill ambassador

nine year ago: Fermat’s last theorem plus more links to enjoy

eleven years ago: double-meaning in genetic code, an alcohol periodic table plus bad signing

general audiences admitted (12. 075)

Coming into effect in November 1968, the first theatrical release to be given a G-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America—replacing the Hays Code as a voluntary, self-policing scheme for parental advisement—was the Monkees’ movie Head and the classification has been on a steady decline since with only documentaries able to secure it, having gone from general genres to niche, recalling those films that really pushed the envelope of decency and age-appropriateness (some seeking the restricted). Once the most prevalent rating for popular movies with non-objectionable if not exactly family-friendly themes like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Andromeda Strain and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (each retroactively given PG status), it fell to a quarter of releases by the mid-1980s, pivoting to children’s films and with only a smattering of the box-office, posing the question of whether the current criteria are still fit for purpose. Much more from Tedium at the link above.

deny, defend, depose, diarrhea (12. 073)

Symptomatic of far greater endemic problems with America’s labour and healthcare problems, individuals are submitting scathing reviews of one of the three McDonald’s franchises in Altoona, Pennsylvania that tipped off authorities regarding the whereabouts of the fugitive suspected of killing the CEO of a major insurance provider—see previously. Whilst his life is undergoing vivisection by the police and the press for his apparent act of retribution, the public is lamenting the selling out by an informant of folk-hero Luigi Mangione whose Monopoly money and manifesto speaks for everyone who has had a negative interaction with their insurance carrier by addle-brained employees who will never have coverage either (nor likely any other basic benefits, like paid leave or a pension) and won’t see the bounty as the tip went through local authorities and not the FBI hotline, no CEO stepping forward to reward this act of killing one of their own. PfRC does not condone this type of lawless vigilantism no matter how resonant and righteous, nor do we condone the above-the-law framework of for-profit healthcare and corporate welfare that props up businesses that rely on a woefully insufficient government safety net to make money and a parasocial system that is a feedback loop undermining people’s physical and mental well-being.

contingent election (12. 047)

On this day in 1824, the US presidential election whose voting had started back on 26 October between candidates Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford and Henry was punted to Congress as no candidate had secured an electoral majority (see previously here and here) under the provisions of Amendment XII to the constitution. The race was called a stalemate—John Caldwell Calhoun (pictured), after failing to secure party support as the presidential nominee agreed to stand for the role of vice president and comfortably won a plurality in the Electoral College—and voting was adjourned until 9 February with each state delegation given one vote for the candidate, to be decided through debate within their caucus. The election cycle of 1800 was also called by the House of Representatives but it was the Three-Fifths Compromise that enabled first Thomas Jefferson and ultimately Andrew Jackson to win, counting enslaved individuals who had no franchise as count as 3/5 of a person for purposes of apportionment of members to congress, based on a state’s population.

catch a falling star and put it your pocket (12. 044)

On this day in 1954, in the Oak Grove neighbourhood of Sylacauga, Alabama, Elizabeth Fowler Hodge was jolted awake from an early afternoon nap after being struck from a fragment of a meteorite, about the size of a grapefruit. Though sustaining only the physical injury of a large bruise to her thigh (later suffering trauma however from the singular incident and the intense albeit short-lived fame garnered because of it), Hodges’ case was the only well documented individual to be hit by an object from space and survive it. The rock came hurtling through the roof of her house she shared with her mother and husband, ricocheting off the family radio (destroying it) and bounced into Hodges. There was somewhat of a custody battle after scientists from a nearby airforce base confirmed the rock’s origins between the mayor of the town who promised it to a museum and the Hodges’ landlords but ultimately Elizabeth was allowed to keep the meteorite. By the time it was settled, however, Ms Hodges’ celebrity had died down and no buyer could be found and eventually it ended up in the state’s natural history museum. Likely sourced from asteroid 1685 Toro, similar but unverified incidents include a 1677 strike on a friar in Milan and the 1908 Tunguska Event, reported to have caused at least three casualties.

letters of note (12. 008)

Capitalising on a trend in the publishing industry of epistolary collections—Stoo Hample’s 1966 “Children’s Letters to God” being the originator with a sequel and many homages—and hoping to rehabilitate the president’s public image, the United States Information Agency (see previously) produced this rather imaginative, endearing little segment (hopefully with in-house animation) drawing from young people’s letters to the commander-in-chief—via Fancy Notions—narrated by Dick Van Dyke in 1972—in the midst of the Watergate scandal and less than a year and a half before Nixon’s impeachment trial and ultimate resignation.

9x9 (12. 004)

if you really care about women having autonomy, you should stop questioning our decision to elect a guy who wants to take it away: sure, I voted for someone whose policies might kill you, but now’s the time to put aside our differences  

with some account of the judicial “congress”: John Davenport’s 1869 collected essays on Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs  

operation bear claw: four Los Angeles residents charged with insurance fraud for dressing in a costume and damaging luxury cars  

goldeneye: a tour of Ian Fleming’s estate in Jamaica where the author wrote all the Bond novels  

blue days, all of them gone—nothing but blue skies from now on: the alternative social network’s growth is attributed to privileging user choice over algorithmic engagement  

ai granny: telecom O2 has created a scambait protocol to keep fraudsters on the line as long as possible and away from potential human victims 

feat. rowlf as king herod: Muppet Christ Superstar—see also  

lysistrata: as Trump’s next term approaches, more women are seeking to disassociate themselves from the men in their lives, withhold sex  

subway therapy: the exhibition inviting New Yorkers to share their thoughts on the presidential election returns after eight years

synchronoptica

one year ago: The Sound of Music (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: The Book of Life: The Spiritual and Physical Constitution of Man

eight years ago: the lost art of correspondence plus WoTY: post-truth

ten years ago: lucid dreams plus a selection of random t-shirts

eleven years ago: the Asylothek, retro Christmas cards plus more fallout from US dragnet espionage tactics

america’s finest news source (12. 000)

Actually not an article from The Onion—the satirical news outlet, we learn via Ernie Smith from Tedium, has bought the domain of Alex Jones’ Infowars during a bankruptcy auction with plans to relaunch it as a parody of itself to lampoon internet personalities starved for attention who peddle in misinformation, conspiracy theories and snakeoil. The sale (with sponsorship from a major gun safety advocacy group, see also) was sanctioned by families of the victims of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, whom won a billion dollar defamation suit against Jones for spreading the revolting lie that the tragic event (which keeps happening as per the evergreen headline of the publication, ‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens) was staged as ploy for the US government to strip Americans of their vaunted second amendment rights.

index saeculum (11. 987)

Unlike regnal and papal enumeration (also a subject of contention), US presidential numbering (see previously) has been a matter of debate since Grover Cleveland served the first non-consecutive terms in 1884 and 1892 becoming the twenty-second and twenty-fourth leader of the United States—Trump being the second. Though not two separate individuals holding high office, the prevailing inclination was to hold then to their oaths and the gap in between, which made for two separate administrations. In 1950, the Congressional Directory (also responsible for minutes and numbering of legislative sessions), renumbered their order, eliciting barely a question since and leaving the matter settled, until now.

your terror is the hallmark of a functional state and nausea us the most civic emotion (11. 974)

McSweeney’s contributors have a selection of postings for US election day, finally arrived after a seemingly endless and surprising campaign which may still be far from over. There’s the usual advice columns and election day bingo plus this list of “I voted” stickers for voters outside of the narrow band of battleground precincts that have been receiving all the coverage and overtures by dint of America’s electoral college system and minoritarian rule. We’re sure they’ll be updates through the day.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica), WoTY: AI plus The Sinister Urge

seven years ago: imaginative play

eight years ago: more links to enjoy plus election influence peddling

nine years ago: Hilbert Hotels, Rasputin’s daughter plus esoteric influences in aerospace

ten years ago: theorising language families, circadian rhythms plus urban algae

pooped in peolsis desk (11. 934)

Inspired by a spurious claim (confessed in a group-chat) by one of the January 6 rioters and Trump’s latest hailing the insurrection on the US capitol as a “day of love” following praise for those patriots, a bronzed sculpture of an emoji-style faeces on the desk of then Speaker of The House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, will remain on view through 30 October opposite Congress. While the artist and intention remain unclear, apparently the installation was given official sanction by the National Park Service which vets public art on the Mall in DC. Much more at Hyperallergic at the link above.

pseudo event (11. 910)

Planned, planted or incited—and retroactively described as the above or more commonly as a media event by Marshal McLuhan and others, the first in the history of a US presidential campaign occurred on this day in 1924, conceived by master propagandist and public-relations pioneer Edward Bernays, in the form of a breakfast at the White House hosted by incumbent Calvin Coolidge attended by a retinue of Broadway luminaries. Considered rather groundbreaking to stage a “non-event” to improve a politician’s public image (Coolidge was considered dour and retreating, nicknamed “Silent Cal” by association with celebrities), Coolidge was re-elected for a first full-term in his own right eighteen days later, having succeeded to the presidency in August of the previous year due to the sudden death of Warren G Harding.

frostbite falls (11. 907)

The fictional terra nullius, an island in the middle of the Lake of the Woods (Pikwedina Sagainan) neither claimed by the US or Canada since conditions there were said to be inhospitable to human life, of Moosylvania is governed by presumed namesake Bullwinkle J Moose. In the finale of the first run of the series, an insidious plot to destroy the island by Fearless Leader was foiled by the duo’s ingenuity, and in hopes of getting the show renewed for syndication, Rocky and Bullwinkle producer Jay Ward dispatched an assistant to Minnesota to purchase an uninhabited island on the cross-border lake suitable as a stand-in and then launched a campaign to petition for statehood. A publicity team gathered sufficient signatures across America and Ward and associates arranged for an audience with president John F Kennedy on this day in 1962. Arriving however just as the Cuban Missile Crisis began (see also here and here), they were escorted off the premises of the White House at gun-point.

synchronoptica

one year ago: e-textiles (with synchronoptica) plus Don’t Look Now

 

seven years ago: rehabilitating cephalopods, occupational gender equity in Russia plus translating IKEA accessory names

 

eight years ago: denim televisions, Brexit and Marmite shortages plus clowns try to improve their public image

 

nine years ago: assorted links to revisit plus drone wars

 

twelve years ago: ISPs policing IPs

7x7 (11. 897)

ghost lot: an installation of sunken cars buried in a mall parking area as commentary on catering to automobile culture 

weather manipulation: a whirlwind of conspiracy theories over recent hurricanes in the US have netted distrust, death threats for meteorologists 

loveland frogmen: maps of the most famous cryptids and mythical monsters charted by America states and internationally—via Nag on the Lake  

scripting news: a founding member of the blogosphere enters his fourth decade—via Waxy  

general headquarters: the lost board game from Kurt Vonnegut (previously) has been completed and available for purchase 

theobros: understanding the GOP’s efforts to remake America through Christian Nationalists—via Miss Cellania  

y-crossing: the Trinity Bridge of Crowland, Lincolnshire, a relic before the rivers were rerouted

synchronoptica

one year ago: a catalogue of edible seeds (with synchronoptica) plus the Polish System of pedagogy

seven years ago: a line rider banger, pictorial kanji, a Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden plus the US withdraws from UNESCO

eight years ago: Mr Yuk plus a monument to Henrietta Lacks

nine years ago: a courtly selfie-stick plus assorted links to revisit

fourteen years ago: predictive text plus Japanese heraldic traditions

and that my friend is only the beginning of how this makes america great—you’ll be so overwhelmed with all the winning that you won’t know what you’ve lost until it’s too— (11. 882)

Via Memo of the Air, we are directed towards this rather brilliant reminder of the illiberal horrors contained in Project 2025—which Trump disavows though his agenda fits the blueprint point-for-point—as an homage to Schoolhouse Rock, which despite reaching the series fifth decade, the 1950s that it would transport back the United States to is far darker, distant and regressive. For the rest of the world, enduring America’s seemingly endless whinging about its democracy is taxing, and it will be over within weeks—either with the country crowing with pride as the untoppled beacon for freedom, when even at the best of times its record is not so perfect, or else an insular and fascist theocracy with the hollow procedural trappings of free elections—but either way, America will throw its weight around and have serious consequences globally, impacting everyone. The lyrics (though missing some major curtailments of rights and norms, like support for the arts, banning pornography, support for veterans, etc but I guess the song would never end otherwise) helping cite the pages where each proposal appears and has the coda of how to overcome this bleak future. Draping the Statue of Liberty in a Handmaid’s costume was a nice touch too.

as safe as fort knox (11. 866)

With the exception of a brief tour granted to FDR in 1943 and a similar junket in August of 2017 to dispel the same rumours that the vaults had been emptied out, no members of the public had been admitted to the national gold bullion depository until when on this day in 1974 a contingent of journalists and a dozen congressional representatives were guided inspection by members of the American Mint (director Mary Brooks pictured) and the Treasury Department.

Requests to visit Ft Knox are summarily turned down but pressure by the House to conduct an independent audit of US gold reserves in response to the publication of a book, Conspiracy Against the Dollar: The Spirit of the New Imperialism by Peter David Beter, that attacked international monetary reform and cited the usual culprits, global elites, Bolsheviks, the Rockefeller-cartel, Soviet space lasers, important public figures were dead and had been replaced with “robotoids”—and most resoundingly with the public, that most of America’s gold had been trucked away and sold at depressed costs to European speculators—all claims without evidence or merit. Beter’s AM radio show gave him a platform to continue his allegations, making the military installation’s standing policy suspicious and proof that they had something to hide. The delegation was delighted with the tour and mostly cleared up the false speculation—largely imputed to America’s leaving the gold standard three years prior when the reality was that movement of gold had effectively halted (US silver bullion is stored at the military academy of West Point) and most gold is still in New York City—that is, until the rumours started circulating again and Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell visited with treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, proclaiming the nation’s stockpile to be secure. 

synchronoptica

one year ago: David Bowie’s Heroes (with synchronoptica), robinsonades plus urban wildlife photography

seven years ago: shibboleths 

eight years ago: smart carts for airport security, windpipes plus point-of-sales machines

nine years ago: algae-based membranes as liquid containers 

eleven years ago: a census of house plants

suburban fury (11. 865)

Joining the only other American female would-be presidential (let’s not forget Fanny Kaplan and the long tradition of Russian attempts) assassin with the mutual target being Gerald Ford inside of a month from each attempt, Sara Jame Moore tried to kill the US president on this day in 1975 as he was leaving a San Francisco hotel. Preoccupied with Patricia Hearst (maybe a case of Stockholm Syndrome by-proxy), Moore and volunteered as a bookkeeper and informant for the the organisation founded by William Randolph Hearst to rebuff the claims by the Symbionese Liberation Army that they had kidnapped and inculcated his daughter for his crimes against the poor up until the moment of her plot foiled by the FBI. Picked up by local authorities the day prior on suspicion of having an illegal handgun and a large supply of ammunition, Moore acquired a new revolver and shot at Ford from a distance of twelve metre as he exited the St Francis Hotel and misjudging the sightings on her new and untested weapon missed by a narrow margin. Moore said later that her motive was to incite revolution and bring about positive change in America. Remanded for life in prison and with an interim escape and re-apprehension, Moore was paroled at the end of 2007 and is living in Tennessee, aged 94.

the sammies (11. 853)

Via tmn, we learn of the awards ceremony hosted by the US Partnership for Public Service that acknowledges the seen and unnoticed efforts by contentious bureaucrats of the federal government, who many are presently reviling as the Deep State. Named for the late benefactor Samel J Heyman, businessman and philanthropist who encouraged recent graduates to pursue a career in government, the gala has been hosted annually during the first week in October in Washington, DC and a selection committee of journalists, politicians, educators and corporate executives nominates individuals in the categories of emerging leaders, citizen services, science and the environment and safety, security and international affairs plus employee of the year out of the pool of the two-and-a-half million who work for America’s largest employer. The awards ceremony is surprising moving and deserving of its monicker as the Oscars of government work.

synchronoptica

one year ago: rotating ramen (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: a sanctuary of internet freedom, navel-gazing, antique Japanese hoardings, bacterial phages fight tumours plus more unbuilt architecture

eight years ago: more on the pioneers of Information Theory

ten years ago: more on Scottish secession 

eleven years ago: the US debt ceiling

when you see something like that, it’s like god is looking right at you, just for a second—and if you’re careful, you can look right back (11. 825)

Premiering on this day at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on this day in 1999 (in general release 17 September), probably no other film has waned in its critical reception and reappraisal since Gone with The Wind, now almost singular dismissed and regarded as not ageing well, the award-winning Sam Mendes and Alan Ball collaboration about repression, renunciation, conformity and fragile masculinity is nonetheless an artfully crafted if unsophisticated time-capsule that captures the Zeitgeist of fin de siècle ideas of as-yet unrecognised privilege, normative behaviour and attitudes that still reverberate and are relatable a quarter of a century on. Its stellar initial accolades, 9/11 which made much seem trivial that came before, benighted stereotypes and actor Kevin Spacey being cancelled for atrocious behaviour that mirrored the protagonist of the movie certainly didn’t help its problematic legacy. Straddling the enduring (when and if it comes time for critical reevaluation) dichotomy between the message of the meaning of life versus the hollowness of suburbia and sabotaging one’s life and being unable to deal with the consequences, American Beauty relates the archetype of a stranger coming to town in the form of the Fitts, an authoritarian, retired Marine colonel with an ill wife and withdrawn teenaged son who documents everything one his camcorder and pays for his expensive hobby by selling marijuana, to the notionally progressive and liberal picket-fenced community of middle-aged Lester Burnham, unhappy with his career and loveless marriage, and their gay neighbours. In parallel with his wife beginning an affair with a coworker, Burnham becomes infatuated with a classmate of his daughter which sets of a chain of events that that leads him to quit his job, blackmail his former boss, buying a classic car, and taking work as a short-order cook—deportment that might be excused as a “mid-life crisis” in unenlightened times. The 2000 MTV Movie Awards had nominated the film for its Best Kiss category but the studio rejected the overture, not wanting to glorify the “inappropriate” nature of the congress between a forty-two year old man and a sixteen-year old girl. …look closer

where we’re going we don’t need stroads (11. 820)

Whilst happy to live in a country that has not privileged cars over pedestrians completely where services are walkable and there’s a robust network of public transportation, there is always room for improvement at the margins—parking lots take up a lot of real estate and can be sweltering heat islands that could surely be put to a better use and there’s signs that some mid-sized cities in Germany are tending towards their American counterparts with the same horrendous corridors of strip malls, gas stations, automobile lots and fast food and plenty of investment in infrastructure has been invested in making the car king. Courtesy of Kottke, we are directed towards this reflection on how the car-centric focus of the US is like an addiction impossible to kick because of all the sunk costs and the ingrained and perpetuating cycle of more roads, more traffic and more destinations. The urban planning for the overwhelming majority of places built up post the introduction of the car is going to take a long process of unbuilding to make them liveable, and this is the American experience with hardly any exception—the article quoting Tennessee Williams’ observation that the country only has three cities: “New York, San Francisco and New Orleans—everywhere else is Cleveland,” which unfortunately rings very true for all that are consigned to be stuck in congestion and forever en route and whose errands and commute affords no chance for serendipity, divergence or nature. The title portmanteau of “street” and “road” was coined in criticism to the spreading failures of American civil engineering.