Sunday, 26 January 2025

pen-y-parc (12. 184)

Literally a “castle of turning” and sometimes referred to as the Walls of Troy referring the pious fiction of Geoffrey of Monmouth (previously) to connect the Welsh nation with the refugees of the Iliad through Aeneas, the caerdroia is a turf maze in the tradition of the Cretan Labyrinth, these mysterious and meditative pathways were once common across Wales, owing to the persistence of the medieval myth, but few remain. One modern reconstruction is tended in the Forest of Gwydir, considered to be the largest of its kind at over a mile of twisting, switchback paths, in Snowdonia affords hikers and wanders a chance to explore the beautiful and unique landscape, scars of intensive mining and forestry operations having healed over. More at Atlas Obscura at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus Paula of Rome

seven years ago: a leaf-retrieving cat, securing votes with hypnotism, Trump and sharks, forest bathing, a Nintendo emulator, the Museum of the Selfie plus post-modern architecture

eight years ago: the highest IQ presidential cabinet, the merging of adaptations plus Trump and Twitter

nine years ago: M*A*S*H* (1970), composite cityscapes plus a comic strip devoted to cheese-fuelled nightmares

ten years ago: Cunningham’s Law

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  

winning odds: a collection of vintage Japanese lottery tickets  

cinematic universe: The Goonies and Back to the Future happened on the same day in 1985—via Kottke  

ัˆั€ะธั„ั‚: 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

Saturday, 11 January 2025

hohe schule (12. 166)

Taking advantage of a brief period of sunshine, H and I took the dog on a hike up to the summit of the Hohe Schule—previously, the tallest plateau in the eastern foothills of the Rhรถn mountain range, to inspect more of the recently restored Wanderweg. 

 Formerly known as the Aalhauck—“eel hill,” now called “high school” for unknown reasons—German toponymy can be deceiving, as with Schweinfurt, not where the pigs can ford the river. 

The flat top hosts the ruins of a fortification from the Hallstatt period, presumably built to monitor trade through the Ellenbach valley and reoccupied in the Middle Ages with a newer rampart and collapsed walls, hardly recognisable and reclaimed by the forest but fenced in as several Bronze Age artefacts were discovered there during an emergency survey conducted in the 1980s, including prehistoric millstones, primitive glass vials and a brooch, but further excavations are still pending and archeologists want to preserve the site, and affords some spectacular views on the valley and village below and mountain peaks beyond.

Friday, 3 January 2025

9x9 (12. 139)

eixample: Barcelona’s nineteenth century urban revival and characteristic octagonal blocks  

๐Ÿšฆ: adding fourth colour to traffic lights for safer sharing of roads with human drivers and autonomous vehicles  

willkommen zu hause: a somewhat older documentary on club culture and techno in former East Germany with a connection to H has made it to Youtube  

ha-ha woman, it’s a crying shame but you ain’t got nobody else to blame: equal rights and urban justice in medieval times  

2-step authenication: secure passwords should require a performance like Liza Minelli tries to turn off a lamp—will a Fosse neck do it? 

the monkey chew tobacco on the street car line: the Meters’ Hand Clapping Song 

lycurgus cup: the fuzzy and fluorescent vases of Maxwell Mustardo evoke Roman amphorae—see previously  

stairwell of the quarter: twelve months of superlative flights and storeys 

beaded curtain: a look at the fragmented nature of the border wall on the US southern frontier—via Super Punch

Wednesday, 1 January 2025

10x10 (12. 135)

year of the snek: designer Japanese greeting cards for 2025—see previously from Spoon & Tamago

world record for tiny window inchoateness: Kate Wagner’s McMansion Hell takes on Neuschwanstein  

cloisonnรฉ garnet: an elaborate seventh century brooch discovered near Rostock 

dropped: the 2025 edition of Lake Superior State University’s banished words list, including cringe and skibidi 

back to basics: scientific research confirms that exercise is the most potent medical intervention—for one’s New Year’s resolutions  

dumpster fire: an ominous start for 2025  

classical conditioning: the unscientific and unethical Little Albert Experiment that led to stricter standards in psychological testing 

choicest swears: excellence in strong language and two other New Year’s traditions  

monuments men: Italy’s cultural heritage protection squad saves artefacts from a clandestine dig in Naples

new year, new neighbourhood: the transformation of New York City’s Times Square

Monday, 18 November 2024

die osingverlosung (12. 011)

Inscribed on the UNESCO register of intangible cultural heritage in 2016, we had never heard of this five hundred year old custom, that takes place every decade (in years ending with four) on the arable plateau called the Osing near Bad Windsheim in Middle Frankonia after the harvest when lots are drawn by farmers of the four villages that share the land to determine who will work which parcel for the next ten years, until the next lottery. This unique system dates back to the late Middle Ages and ensures that fertile and less desirable fields are distributed equitably, this tradition surviving no where else in Germany has been upheld as the community appreciates the element of fairness—one farmer consigned to a poor allotment will have an equal chance to work more high-yielding patch of land next time, instead of selling off the commons to the highest bidder. Even taking place in 1944 when other long-standing traditions were put on hiatus, the custom is said to date back to around the year 1020 when Kaiserin Kunigunde von Luxemburg went on a hunting expedition in the then densely forested area of the Osing. Her party got lost but thanks to the pealing of church bells of the four villages surrounding the woods at the cardinal points, Herbolzheim, Humprechtsau, Krautostheim and Rรผdisbronn, they were able to find their way, and in gratitude, the empress deeded the land to the people to share in perpetuity.


*    *    *    *   *

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: terraforming Mars (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: bioluminescence

eight years ago: majestic sandcastles, a particular aesthetic, the uncanny mantis shrimp, digitising archival photos plus a collapsing bike helmet

nine years ago: saving the bees  

ten years ago: linguistic redundancy plus high-fructose foods

Thursday, 12 September 2024

teatro della marionette (11. 834)

Having recently returned from a trip to Lago Maggiore and visiting the island adjacent to Isola Bella—though not having ventured there ourselves—we enjoyed this dispatch on one of the lesser known treasures of Palazzo Borromeo in its nineteenth century puppet theatre (see also), resuming a tradition of entertainmentsthat waned with the death of prince and patron Viraliano VI in 1690, with an exquisite ensemble of wooden actors, elaborate sets and staging from the ridiculous to sublime with witty and sophisticated scripts in the home’s library. The playhouse has undergone periods of neglect and upheaval, including when it was commandeered as a guardhouse by Mussolini during the Stresa Conference (the 1935 one between delegates from the UK and France that re-affirmed the Treaty of Locarno to prevent future wars and not the cheese summit) but the historic collection was always loving conserved by the family. Much more at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: The Blob (with synchronoptica)

six years ago: open tabs, assorted links worth revisiting plus flying-screen choreography

seven years ago: mushrooms at the museum, more links to enjoy, updating the leader board plus Germany votes

eight years ago: a dark matter galaxy plus fantasy sub-cultures

nine years ago: an usually named concert coordinator plus untamed water

eleven years ago: nouns that exist only in their plural form

Sunday, 1 September 2024

sunday drive: schwickershausen (11. 808)

We visited the small village in the southern district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen just over the border, formerly an independent municipality under the imperial knighthood of the Hennebergs until from the late tenth century1836 under the cadet matrilineal line that split jurisdiction between Rรถmhild and Schleusingen and the Bishopric of Wรผrzburg giving the tiny community three mayors for most of its existence. 

 We took a walk around the reservoir (Talsperre) built up in 1968 primarily for agricultural use but we were a bit baked in the sun and there no shade crossing over the fields. The setting was nice however and the water looked inviting for a hot day. 

Passing back through the village, we found the gatehouse and Wasserburg—not far from the ensemble in RoรŸrieth we had visited a few years earlier, built originally in the twelfth century by Konrad von der Kere for the courtly office of TruchseรŸ(e)—owing to its female dynasty, from the Latin dapifer, a server responsible for the royal table and feeding of guests and evolving onto the often ceremonial and inheritable role of steward, seneschal with administrative duties including the appointing bailiffs and supervising domestics—destroyed during the Peasants’ Revolt and rebuilt around 1540 in Renaissance-style, restored extensively in 1992. The algae filled moat, however, did not looks so inviting.

Sunday, 25 August 2024

sunday drive: fasanerie u deutsch-deutsch grenze (11. 792)

Taking advantage of the cooler weather, H and I went to the next village over (see previously here and here) of Hermannsfeld to see a classic car show held on the grounds of the Jagdschloss Fasanerie—a pheasant-hunting lodge built for Duke Georg I of Sachsen-Meiningen from an existing menagerie at the end of the eighteenth century and by turns a nature reserve, a refugee encampment, accommodations for the border police, a teacher training facility and then back to a park and place for excursions. 



Afterwards we took the long way home over Henneburg and stopped again at the sculpture park at the former Inner-German border. With an expanded and changing selection of artworks and installations on division, reunification and freedom, the Friedensweg lining the crossing from Thรผringen and Bavaria was dedicated by Bundeskanzler Helmet Kohl in 1996 and began with the central construction of the Golden Bridge and features contributions from children and artists from both East and West coming together. 





Wednesday, 3 July 2024

maccagno inferiore (11. 660)

We took a nice stroll through the village and explored the oldest part of the settlement with the Oratorium Madonna della Punta, a sanctuary with grottoes at the head of the old harbour. 





A path around the road tunnel at the beginning of the city crossed over the street and continued into the maze of alleyways and picturesque residences that formed around the core of the imperial tower and mint (Zecca). 





We got a little lost in the passageways but eventually found our way and returned via the promenade along the beach, the weather turning stormy again and the water roiling with waves.
 
synchronoptica
 
one year ago: superlative drone photos (with synchronoptica), Ziggy Star-Dust retires, assorted links to revisit plus composer Ligeti
 
 
 
nine years ago: philosopher Avicenna, even more links worth revisiting plus the American Revolution framed as a mistake
 
ten years ago: shifting contractions

Monday, 1 July 2024

castelli di bellinzona (11. 657)

Returning to Ticino, we visited the UNESCO World Heritage site, the ensemble of fortifications, of the cantonal capital and strategically important location occupied and defended since Neolithic times as the place where several Swiss rivers converge and near the Alpine passes of San Bernardino, San Gottardo and Lukmanier, and maintaining hold of Bellinzona meant control of traffic and trade between northern Europe and the Mediterranean. 





 
It was not however until the reign of Augustus in the first century that a stronghold was built on the rocky outcropping in the middle of the city, and while the garrison was neglected for several hundred years, Castelgrande was expanded into its present form as the defence of Helvetia under Diocletian and Constantine.  Under Frankish rule in the 700s, the second castle, Montebello, was constructed as a chain of watchtowers and as part of expansionist



ambitions of the Duchy of Milan, the third and highest, Sasso Corbaro, was added in the sixteen century with reinforcement on the lower existing structures, and is now a symbol of Swiss unity and identity.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a venerable Viennese newspaper folds (with synchronoptica)

six years ago: negotium and otium

seven years ago: an AI names cats, moss walls, the Tour de Trump plus the Hong Kong transfer of sovereignty (1997)

eight years ago: on listicles plus the fantastic illustrations of Franรงois Schuiten

nine years ago: West Germany’s NATO accession (1955), grail candidates plus assorted links to enjoy

Tuesday, 18 June 2024

kyffhรคuserdenkmal (11. 637)

Dedicated on this day in 1896 (on the anniversary of the coronation of the latter) after six years of construction under the direction of architect Bruno Schmitz, the colossal memorial also known as the Barbarossa Monument erected on the ruins of the medieval Kyffhauser Castle is the third commemorative ensemble in Germany (see above—we visited in April of 2010) and one of a number commissioned posthumously in honour of Emperor Wilhelm I of Prussia. 

The foundations of the imperial castle from the first millennium and associated with the reign of Frederick I Barbarossa are well preserved, such as the keep and a well that is the deepest from the Middle Ages. Heralded after his death, the Kaiser was seen as his political and culturally unifying descendant and inheritor of the Barbarossa legend, the trope of the sleeping king, king under the mountain (Bergentrรผcken—including lore about King David, Arthur and Charlemagne), that Frederick with a retinue of knights is not dead but half in slumber in a secluded cavern in the massif and will return again—occasionally dispatching a scout outside to check to see if ravens are still roosting, their absence being a sign that he is needed. 


During DDR times, Communist residents in the area wanted to blow up this bombastic reminder of the country’s past but its destruction was stopped by Soviet authorities, admonishing them it was time for Germans to live with their history and statues.

Friday, 7 June 2024

9x9 (11. 613)

brainstorm: an AI researcher creates webpages from search queries—via Web Curios  

resurfacing the past: cataloguing all of the sunken ships of World War II  

like a feather on god’s breath: Hildegard von Bingen continues to fascinate and attract a diverse following—see previously 

leica lux: a new app from the veteran company is a concession that film is dead  

pineapple cheese: a nineteenth century fad in New England—via Strange Company  

unfortunate juxtaposition: an omnibus of headline crash blossoms—see previously  

mycological studies: Ann Wood’s paper mushrooms 

amperima: deep-sea researchers discovery a hot-pink “Barbie Pig” and a unicumber unknown to science in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone 

ddg: DuckDuckGo offers anonymity for AI chat sessions

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting

two years ago: the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520) plus the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

three years ago: more links to enjoy plus Brazilian phone booths

four years ago: an airport stretch-limousine, factorial pottery, a parting-shot from Cassini, more links to revisit, justice served plus besmirching a swan

five years ago: Iceland does not want your bottled water, even more links plus a Noah’s Ark theme park flooded