we got cool and hot (13. 755)

Unbidden and out of nowhere, I got “Soul Food to Go”—from The Manhattan Transfer—stuck in my head and in an attempt to exorcise it—or pass it on to someone else—I looked it up, having forgotten the claymation music video—studio of Will Vinton, who created the California Raisins and later working with computer animation, the M&Ms characters. From their 1987 tenth studio album as the follow up to their double releases in 1985 of Bop Doo-Wopp and Vocalese (named for the style of scat-like jazz singing where words are added to a soloist’s instrumental performance) which garnered the most Grammy nominations, twelve, second only to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Brasil, marking the group’s foray into Latin music. The musical setting is from Brazilian artist Djavan’s song “Sina.” Officially retiring with a Christmas concert in 2023, there have been several incarnations of The Manhattan Transfer (named after the John Dos Passos’ seminal novel about the transition of New York’s working class from the Gilded to the Jazz Age) since its founding with each formation focusing on different genres from swing, pop, rhythm and blues, a cappella and American songbook standards. Just for you, the pleasures of the soul—come on, come in and check it out.

avant et retour (13. 750)

Flautist and composer of the Stadtorchester of Essen, Paul Wetzer, arranged this musical palindrome (see previously), one of two witty duets for his Opus № 32 as a table canon, a retrograde and inverse counterpoint meant to be placed between two players, reading the same lines in opposite directions. Bach’s 1747 Das Musikalische Opfer includes instructions for such a setting in his movement the Prussian Fugue, a ricercare (not a palindrome, from the Italian to seek and find) that expands to six voices, and is thought to be the first table canon, Wetzer’s 1900 piece part of a well-established tradition.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: Wilholt’s Law (with synchronoptica) plus Skynet becomes self-aware (1997)

two years ago:  assorted links worth revisiting plus correspondence from the complaints department 

three years ago: more links to enjoy 

four years ago: another MST3K classic plus even more links to revisit

five years ago: a rare earth element, the founding of Nuuk (1728), more on botanical anatomy plus Smells like Teen Spirit (1991)

six years ago: mystic Manly Palmer Hall, Wuppertal’s flying train, electrical engineer Otis Frank Boykin, communion cheese plus Netflix founded (1997)

8x8 (13. 740)

and so on and so on and scooby-dooby-dooby: Kermit the Frog joins Dolly Parton for a 1987 appearance on her variety show, performing a duet of “Every Day People”  

young artists after siamesas 1960: US state department orders removal of woke Kehinde Wiley painting (previously) at the Dominican embassy  

pyramid of tirana: a survey of Albania’s built environment spanning sixty years—see previously  

ilulissat icefjord: bracing and heartbreaking timelapse of an iceberg collapsing and rolling over in west-central Greenland—see also 

synodical months: the cultural context of the upcoming August Sturgeon Moon—see previously   

restoration architecture: explore Copenhagen’s urban reform initiatives to conserve its landmarks for sustainable tourism whilst preserving the city’s heritage and character  

free press: Pentagon fires editor-in-chief, dismisses a reporter of independent military newspaper Stars & Stripes following an earlier overhaul to rid the publication of woke distractions 

imagination library: Dolly Parton, giver of books

8x8 (13. 736)

a comparison using like or as: a treasury of simile and metaphor from Ross MacDonald’s private detective Lew Archer 

mario v pareto: a scrolly-telling illustration of efficiency and optimisation—via Quantum of Sollazzo   

siamese wins: Thailand avoided colonisation through diplomacy and cultural synthesis  

world famous gopher hole museum: a visit to an usual tourist attraction in a tiny Albertan hamlet  

biblioclasm: Amazon’s AI book-pulping division has a cartoonish evil logo 

count coudenhove-kalergi: the Austro-Japanese politician and diplomat who championed the movement of European integration and was the inspiration for the character of Victor Laszlo in Casablanca—plus nominated Ode to Joy as the theme for the united continent 

balloon banjo: a 3D printed heuristic tool for experimenting with acoustics  

ounce dice trice: a garland ring of unusual words that ends up where it starts out

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus a cache of vintage picture postcards

two years ago: a quick weekend get-away plus the Formosa Straits crisis of 1958 

three years ago: the US Republican primary debates plus more links to enjoy 

four years ago: even more links plus Ukraine re-establishes itself as an independent state (1991)  

five years ago: assorted links worth the revisit, ant architecture plus Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)

six years ago: cocktails for remote learning, superlative garden photographs plus re-sampling Soviet pop

9x9 (13. 725)

⛒: the mostly true story of hobo code—see previously here and here  

bury the axis: an independent 1943 anti-fascist stop-motion film   

blackball: a variation on the grandfather paradox with billiards  

cow comes: roundly ridiculed Niu Lai (牛来) becomes a box-office hit  

home taping is killing music: the banality of streaming and the lost joy of music piracy—via Things Magazine—see previously  

diesel dazzle: GM archives reveal costume designs from the Golden Age of industrial musicals—see previously  

casserole culture: Melissa Joseph’s woollen impressions of Midwestern niceties 

lampchop after dark: ventriloquist Shari Lewis‘ raunchier days on the comedy circuit  

hailing frequency: a 1951 prototype beeper in the form of a wearable garter buzzer

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Midnight Oil (with synchronoptica) plus the Dumbarton Oaks conference (1944)

two years ago: assorted links to revisit 

three years ago: Cars by Gary Numan

four years ago: the rules of chess, more links to enjoy plus a banger from Oasis

five years ago: rude toponyms plus The Baltics are Waking Up (1991) 

six years ago: limited patronage, Comrade Gulliver, antique ballots, Italy’s Hundred Horse Chestnut plus vintage Japanese boxed meal wrappers

🥁 (13. 695)

Web Curios directs our attention to an engrossing tool that explores planar percussion, allowing one to experiment with different drums and hear and explore the sonic output in great detail. With Eigendrum (see also) can also outline their own drum and listen to the acoustics, no matter how implausible, with visualisations of the reverb and fade and mallet. The intersection of maths and music, the sound of a standing wave across a bounded surface is −∇²u = λu, u being the edge where it zeroes out and lambda wave length. Most planes however are eigenvalues and do not follow the formula and must be solved numerically, scaled by inputs—in the case of one’s own creations. Bang a gong and do let us know what you discover.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Milgram experiments (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to enjoy 

two years ago: retroactive statehood for Ohio 

three years ago: an atlas of the internet, then and now 

four years ago: Come on Eileen 

five years ago: St Donatus, letters from space, dazzle camouflage for cars, mysterious emojis plus husband-and-wife trees

six years ago: getting rid of the rum-ration plus wine windows

overworld suite (13. 688)

Via Kottke, we very much enjoyed this introduction to the talent and musical stylings of Brussels musical ensemble the Casimir Liberski ReTrio through their Z Suites sessions album, thirteen tracks of Hyrule jazz, interpreting theme classic themes from the Legend of Zelda (see previously here and here). The composer and sounder director for the franchise, Kōji Kondō (近藤 浩治), originally wanted to use Maurice Ravel’s Boléro as the game’s main theme but learning late in production that the work was not yet in the public domain, instead improved a new instrumental arrangement—in one day. Much more at the links above.

7x7 (13. 675)

giant’s causeway: Curiosity rover discovers valley of honeycomb polygonal rock formations—see also  

ars notoria: a magical medieval text that promised a pathway to instant, universal mastery of the liberal arts 

singing seat: artist Dan Ortiz Leizman transforms Monobloc chairs into stringed instruments 

translator of original ‘minions’ epic poem slams sexless, bloodless film adaptation: most fun movie discourse since Barbenheimer—see more, see also here and here—via Kottke   

it’s giving: a glossary of Gen Z lexical constructs  

mittingsaia: a mysterious illustrated Swiss manuscript from the 1940s in the style of a European travel brochures with undecipherable captions that resemble AI hallucinations  

van allen belt: despite its small size, no bigger than North America, Mercury’s weak magnetic field can trap solar winds

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump administration obliterates Clean Air Act plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: obligatory voting in Australia (1924), the Likert scale plus more on millenialism

three years ago: more links to enjoy 

four years ago: a banger from Annie Lennox, even more links, more antique abecedaria plus graphic designers Elinor and Joe Selame

five years ago: time crystals, photographer Lora Webb Nichols, Olympic mottoes, assorted links worth the revisit, a world music radio station plus a David Bowie inspired costume

six years ago: more links to enjoy, a Chinese mission to Mars plus an interim emoji release

7x7 (13. 666)

serenity prayer: the EU can rein in Google and other tech behemoths despite Trump’s threats 

the fun palace: Cedric Price’s modular playground and social laboratory that was never realised  

hot 100: Paste magazine lists the greatest songs of the 1970s—via MetaFilter 

dear stranger: a disturbing experiment in voyeurism that turned into something beautiful  

ǝsᴉʅƎ ɹn̤ᖵ: Beethoven’s bagatelle inverted—originally as a prank—but hauntingly evocative—see also  

hedonic treadmill: welcome to the age of decadence without pleasure  

we used to be able to buy things in this country: the plexiglass retail landscape of America—via Kottke

jug band (13. 659)

We enjoyed this cover version of Raymond Scott’s animation studio staple Powerhouse (see previously) as performed on blown-bottles. The background music for chase and assembly line scenes for Warner Bros cartoons, featured in over forty shorts, first debuted on CBS Radio’s Saturday Night Swing Club in early 1937 with the same first take by the quintette (actually a sextette with piano, saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, double bass and drums but called the former to keep one’s mind on the melody)—this and “Toy Trumpet” remaining in the band’s repertoire for decades and has been sampled by numerous other franchises, including The Simpsons, SpongeBob and Ren & Stimpy, and in musical homages, such as Devo and They Might Be Giants since. Other popular session titles were “Twilight in Turkey, “Reckless Night on Board an Ocean Liner” and “War Dance for Wooden Indians,” and whilst best known for his jazzy improvised production pieces, Scott is also considered a pioneer of electronic music and audio engineering, developing multi-track and layering techniques, plus inventing the Electronium and Clavivox as well as consulting with peer Bob Moog on the synthesiser and working with Jim Henson in his later years and composing experimental songs for the Muppets and Motown record producer Berry Gordy. See more renditions by the trio GlasBlasSing, currently touring Germany, from Laughing Squid at the link above.

8x8 (13. 637)

founder and ceo of edgars industries: 1995 episode of Babylon 5 sums up the political situation in the US rather eerily  

decoy: an ambiguous, superimposed typeface that hides from AI  

add “crack spread” to your economics vocabulary: an explainer on the disconnect on the price of crude versus petroleum-derived products  

presque vu: the latest batch of new emoji seem familiar—via Waxy  

my father was a barn burner: a PSA from the Norwegian Consumer Council on why we can’t have nice things—see previously  

benford’s law: the counterintuitive observation that helps catch financial fraud—via Quantum of Sollazzo  

dazzle camouflage: more on adversarial apparel, clothing designed to confound and encourage public dialogue on the surveillance state and privacy—via MetaFilter—see more 

it’s show-time, synergy: the Flop House on the quintessentially 1980s cartoon—the funniest lines came out over the mid-season theme song replacement, to the tune of Fame, “Jem—I’m gonna live forever! I am a hologram!”

synchronoptica

one year ago: Sylvanian Families sues over defamation (with synchronoptica) plus a mothballed West German army garrison 

two years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus Geraldine Ferraro accepts her party’s nomination (1984)

three years ago: a banger from Genesis (1986), English occupations in 1881 plus assorted links worth revisiting 

four years ago: a ferry to Newcastle, the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games plus arriving in Scotland

five years ago: a visit to Bohuslän 

six years ago: the Upping of the Swans plus a tour of Rhöngrabfeld 

’til now, i always got by on my own (13. 610)

Written for the band by the collaboration of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, whose credits include “Eternal Flame,” “Like a Virgin,” “True Colors” as performed by Cyndi Lauper and “I Touch Myself” for Divinyls, Heart began a three-week run at the pinnacle of the US singles charts on this day in 1987 with its most successful track since their mid-eighties comeback, “Alone.” Earlier in their career, the Vancouver-based group had come close to this achievement with “Barracuda,” “Crazy on You,” and “Magic Man,” the emotionally raw power ballad went on to international success, holding in the top five in Norway, Ireland, the UK, Switzerland, West Germany and Canada. The below music video, debuting in June of the same year, was directed by Marty Callner (a sports producer who was inspired to get into music by the video for “Bette Davis Eyes” and was behind videos for Stevie Nicks, Cher, Chaka Khan, The Cranberries, among others) and portrays a Romeo & Juliet balcony scene, vocalist Ann Wilson serenading guitarist Nancy Wilson, her younger sister.

9x9 (13. 605)

spitalfields life: street photographer Kurt Hutton  

djt: rentier-in-chief could potential benefit financially from the rebranding of Palm Beach International airport, just kilometres away from Mar-a-Lago 

turn around bright eyes: RIP Bonnie Tyler—see previously here, here and here 

l’odissea: the 1911 cinematic adaptation of the timeless classic  

freedom fuel: White House announces network of gas stations with prices capped (previously) at $3.47 per gallon, status quo ante bellum 

the night the earth shook, strangers started to draw: in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Syria and Türkiye in February of 2023, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team helped save lives—via Maps Mania 

twenty minutes into the future: a look at when the cola-wars where dominated by dystopian science-fiction—see previously

tax shelter: very much solicited financial advice on Trump Accounts for Kidz 

pixel skylines: urban grounds from vintage video games

o canada! (13. 578)

In what one can hope to be a prerequisite of joining the European Union, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announces, on the country’s national holiday, that its newest member, CBC / Radio-Canada will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest next year for its seventy-first iteration to be hosted by this year’s winner Bulgaria. This inclusion marks the first expansion outside of the continent since Australia joined in 2015. Céline Dion, representing Switzerland, won the 1988 Eurovision with the power ballad “Ne partez pas sans moi” (which was included in the Song-Along for the fiftieth anniversary held in Copenhagen covered Estonia soprano Elina Netšajeva and Conchita Wurst) in Dublin. We’ve given the spectacle a soft boycott the past several years, as have other countries—perhaps motivating the enlargement—but watching Canada might be an excuse to tune in.

by the window, that’s where i’ll be (13. 572)

As our faithful chronicler informs, on this day in 1968 Tiny Tim’s novelty rendition of the 1929 popular song by lyricist Al Dubin and Joe Burke as performed by guitarist Kick Lucas, peaked on the singles charts at spot seventeen. From his studio album, God Bless Tiny Tim (which as a complication of musical standards and singing the baritone and falsetto parts of Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You, Babe” fared better on the LP rankings, topping out at number seven), the number became the artist and archivist’s signature song (as it was for Lucas, Tiptoe thru’ the Tulips included in the talkie film Gold Diggers of Broadway) whose stage name was originally that of British persona Sir Timothy Tims (born Herbert Butros Khaury) and shortened it for booking purposes, having nothing to do with the Dickens’ character.

pause for station identification (13. 551)

Via Swiss Miss, we are invited to tune in to a range of virtual televisions that host programming by decade from the 1950s though the aughts with thousands of channels on the dial. There is a guide to consult and one can select from a list of genres, soap operas, cartoons, drama, trailers, commercials, music, sitcoms, news, talk shows, game shows, etc—though those modern day luxuries does not factor into the nostalgia and we think it’s much more rewarding to sit with the random shuffle as one surfs to see what’s on already in progress. The ads alone make this worthwhile. It’s of course saturated with mostly North American broadcasts but I think there’s some UK shows as well—the individuals behind this project seem to have crafted it with care and new media is being added on a regular basis. Let us know what forgotten gems you find.

8x8 (13. 550)

add to dictionary: a remembrance of the departed Tony Krueger, the software engineer that introduced red squiggles to word-processing to indicate a potential error  

seen by the machine: AI scores one’s relative importance by billions of datapoints called “the weights”—please consider the environmental impact before googling oneself—via MetaFilter 

drain the swamp: a meme roundup on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool  

cancon: musical acts propelled to stardom over minimum requirements for domestic content on Canadian airwaves—via Miss Cellania and Nag on the Lake  

reading the room: a moment of silence observed before interviews with filmmakers to take in the room tone as a supercut from Criterion  

a la carte: US history told in early restaurant menus—see previously  

able mabel: a robotic maid from 1966  

usa a-ok: more than amplifying random statistical noise, an interesting look at Americans’ misspellings mapped

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Carnac Stones (with synchronoptica) plus a trip to Belz

two years ago: exploring Maccagno  

three years ago: artist and freedom fighter Willem Arondéus, a revolt and march toward Moscow plus the last Emperor

four years ago: Germany legalises abortion plus a work cruise on the Rhein

five years ago: artist Robert Rotar, the goddess of luck, the bells of Bad Hersfeld, assorted links to revisit plus Cubist cars

six years ago: an orchestra for houseplants,  the Battle of Bamber Bridge (1943), tourists not welcome plus the Pontiac Ghost Car

my god, it’s full of stars (13. 537)

Courtesy of Miss Cellania, we are directed to this delightful and a bit exhausting collaboration between Postmodern Jukebox (previously—now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time—a long time) and choreographer, burlesque artist and tap-dancer, Demi Remick performing to a jazzy, swing medley of sci-fi theme songs. Not their first dance, Remick also was featured on a assortment of arcade music, including the Zelda and Mario franchises. You’ll be sure to recognise them all from TV and film.

9x9 (13. 533)

biometrics: the after effects of gamification of physical activity—sometimes I want to launch my pedometer and everything else into the Sun 

sovereign wealth fund: Bernie Sanders’ proposal to cede control and profits of AI to the American public  

cinecope: an archive of rare and rarefied films—via Web Curios  

battle of the bit: an authoritative archive of chiptune and MIDI renditions  

otome: the rise of synthetic, choose-your-own-adventure romance  

a privet matter: a farmer hacks down China’s lonely tree—see also here and here  

chromacity: the colours on the spectrum that your screens cannot deliver—via MetaFilter  

a show of hands: designing more finger-friendly haptics for our devices—plus dispelling old myths, via Waxy  

dark flow: how your scrolling addiction was built off casino gambling

my only escape from it all, watching a film or a face on a wall (13. 507)

On a recent long road trip, I contracted quite an earworm in the form of the Bananarama song “Robert De Niro’s Waiting…” when it came on the radio. Though not an unpleasant intrusion (in fact such randomness is quite welcome in an overly-curated environment), I was hoping to exorcise it with a little research, discovering that the lead single from the Irish-Anglo girl group—British-Hiberno? I wonder what that particular construction is called and as for girl group, Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward and Siobhan Fahey were true pioneers with an imprint—was supposedly lyrically meant to suggest something edgier and darker than their usual quirky pop-songs but was just about fandom and hero worship in the end.  The accompanying music video for Talking Italian was directed by Duncan Gibbins (making videos for Glen Frey, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Blow Monkeys, Wham! and others, Gibbins tragically perished in 1993 whilst trying to rescue his cat during a wildfire that engulfed Malibu, sustaining severe burns all over his body and jumping into a swimming pool, Gibbins contracted blood-poisoning from chlorine in the water—the cat was later found unharmed) portrays one of the band members being followed by mafia-presenting man for a possible hit. Unable to locate a De Niro lookalike, they used a John Travolta impersonator for the shoot, who ended up being the pizza-delivery guy that they had had summoned. Honoured that someone had written a song about him, the actor, the renowned up until that time for his roles in the Godfather sequel, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull hosted the band for dinner. Talking Italian.