no kings ii (12. 806)

In more than two-thousand seven-hundred rallies across the country—with support from international affiliates—more than seven million protesters took part in the redux demonstrations against the unitary executive of Donald Trump and his blatantly magisterial policies that undermine democracy and the rule of rule and proxy warfare conducted conducted on American streets with assaults against immigrants and unbidden occupation that verges on martial law. Since June’s demonstrations, prompted by Trump’s full authoritarian military birthday parade, the organisers have only been able to add to their agenda with retributive arrests against political opposition (in line with Stalinist era tactics and maxim, “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime”), threats of more violence against Democratic strongholds, aggressive gerrymandering, undermining federal services, virtual parliamentary suspension, abandonment of public health, science-based medicine and environmental regulations, the shutdown of the federal government and regime change in Venezuela. The assembly was peaceful and no arrests were made in Washington, DC or New York City as participants were engaged in the highest form of patriotism against their traitorous government.

i like the city of san juan—i know a boat you can get on (12. 805)

Via our faithful chronicler, we are reminded that the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim premiered on this day in 1961 (on the anniversary of the island’s takeover in 1898, ceded as part of the Treaty of Paris that settled the Spanish-American War) in New York City. The film from Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and Ernest Lehman (the team also behind The Sound of Music, Hello, Dolly! and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and starring Rita Moreno, Natalie Wood, George Chakiris and Richard Beymer was true to book, in turn inspired by the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, some numbers were re-ordered in appearance from the to better fit the narrative and lyrics changed to avoid censorship—particularly in “Jet Song” and “Gee, Officer Krupke,” “sperm to worm” was changed to “from birth to earth”—and in the brilliantly mixed-metre song “America” (the alteration inspired by a supposed visit to Puerto Rico and the “Habanera,” L’amour est un oiseau rebelle from Carmen) for a message deemed too harsh on fellow citizens and instead emphasises more of the perks of living on the mainland, ignoring the fact that the criticism was directed at their mistreatment and unwelcome. The 2021 Steven Spielberg version includes the revolutionary anthem La Borinqueña and restores some of lines from the original. I’ll give them new washing machine! What have they got there to keep clean?

colmar (12.768)

Next H and I went to the only sizable city of this vacation and toured the ancient centre of Colmar but not before making a detour for the road side attraction in the point-rond of the regional airport—a twelve metre scale model of the Statue of Liberty, erected in 2004 and inaugurated by first lady Brigette Chirac in honorary of the hundredth anniversary of the death of the city’s famous son, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi—whom initally designed the monumental sculpture for the opening of the Suez Canal.

Originally a Roman settlement, the name is shortened from Columbarium—Latin for a dovecoat used later for the public storage of urns and cremains on a wall or within a pagoda. As in the other large Alsatian city, Strasbourg, there is a district long a tributary of the River Ill called la Petite Venise—the quarter formerly home to fishmongers, butchers and tanners and the buildings that form the cityscape are hewn from sandstone of the surrounding Vosges to give the architecture a signature yellow and pink hue. The collegiate church of St Martin’s is at the heart of the old town.

synchronoptica

one year ago: papabili (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links worth revisiting

twelve years ago: US government shut-down show-down over Obama Care 

fourteen years ago: salvage thieves plus advances in Chinese aerospace 

fifteen years ago: a bumper crop of exoplanets plus planning a trip to Ireland

11 x 11 (12. 622)

ped x’ing: an urban hawk takes advantage of a crosswalk signal to shield it from view as it stalks its pigeon bounty—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest  

whispering gallery mode: peacock plumage can be induced to emit lasers—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

pix: US government going after Brazil’s native digital payment platform—calling it an unfair barrier to trade—meanwhile only President Lula da Silva is standing up to Trump’s tariff bullying  

showrunner: Amazon investing in AI start-up Fable that allows subscribers to make their own TV shows  

pro-somnolence: the technique of cognitive shuffling to quiet the mind and get back to sleep 

manifesto antropófago: a 1928 counter-colonialism and counter-appropriation movement venturing out of São Paulo 

the candy factory: the unique artists’ commune in New York City founded by Ann Ballentine—via Messy Nessy Chic  

query-agnostic adversarial triggers: feline-related textual asides cause marked increase in AI error rates  

one year ago, america was a dead country, now it is the hottest country anywhere in the world: Trump escalates trade war with Canada as Carney suggests they may miss the deadline  

living batteries: cable bacteria thriving in muddy harness chemical gradients to create and electrical circuit and get oxygen in an anoxic environment  

starling network: Benn Jordan saved a .PNG image to a bird by turning a drawing into audio which could be mimicked and reproduced, see also—via Waxy

8x8 (12. 594)

; ): the correct use of the semicolon—see also  

if you try to humanise the place, you will lose your mind: a journalist reflects on her unconscionable trip to Dubai  

dream logic: the surreal illustrations of Garrett Davis  

bubble house: space age, Mid-Century Modern brownstone off Central Park on the market for the first time in half a century—see also  

the sounds of summer: the soundtrack of nostalgic memories of the season by prolific composer Joe Hisaishi (久石 譲) reimagined as a short visual film  

jumbotron: Coldplay concert kiss-cam incident (and memes) underscore the practice’s awkward history  

kiss of death: US vice president flew to Montana for a secret meeting with News Corp head Rupert Murdoch, aged 94, to discuss reporting of Trump—maybe he dies soon like when Vance had an audience with the Pope—or fawning MAGA fan Truss with the Queen  

the only free cheese is in a mousetrap: the Ukrainian equivalent of the English idiom there is no such thing as a free lunch

gitlow v new york (12. 519)

Whilst ultimately narrowly upholding the conviction of Socialist politician and journalist Benjamin Gitlow for the publication of his manifesto that called for the violent overthrow of the American government under New York’s criminal anarchy law, the landmark case decided this day in 1925 by the US supreme court, headed by chief justice William Taft, significantly affirmed that amendment XIV did extend the First Amendment’s provisions (through the due process clause) protecting freedom of speech and the press from to the constituent states and their governments were bound to respect these fundamental liberties.

One of the first major cases involving the Bill of Rights, it defined the scope of the guarantees and defined the standard to which a state’s or the federal government would be held should it try to criminalise or suppress publication or distribution. While most of the justices agreed that calling for an unlawful coup exceeded the limits of free speech, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr dissented, saying that governments should only be permitted to do so under the clear and present danger test and that indefinite advocacy is not the same thing as conscription and subversive action. Gitlow’s case was the first brought to the supreme court by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Gitlow was represented by renown defence attorney Clarence Darrow and the ruling has been cited in numerous later judgements as precedent.   

 

synchronoptica 

one year ago: a visit to Ellertshäusen See (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: the G7 in Quebec plus Project Maven

eight years ago: Trump motels plus J Edgar Hoover tried to convince Disney to produce Christian cartoons

nine years ago: plebiscites, the Bilderberg in Dresden, wage distribution in filmmaking, crimes of the art plus reflecting on y2k

ten years ago: the Pope defends science,  Big Pharma, assorted links to revisit plus the Hobo Museum of Britt Iowa

ce qu’elle a dit, ce soir-là (12. 517)

A few members having trialed an early version of the song at CBGBs in December of 1975 opening for the Ramones, refining it further over the next two years for their debut performance at the same venue in 1977, the Talking Heads (previously) have released an official music video for their hit number in the lead up to the fiftieth anniversary of their debut studio album. Featuring Saoirse Ronan in very relatable circumstances with those inuring but burdening routines that can become a trigger that has a resolution over the short arc of narrative that is neither violent nor obvious.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: fantasy video games, duty to be informed, the Day of the Tiles (1788), a kei truck decorating competition plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech, amplifying random noise plus the Roman road network as a tube map

nine years ago: a geopolitical flow-chart, Italy’s industrial heritage plus former German royals as ceremonial presidents

ten years ago: textiles and technology, farming birds plus the Rod Pyramid outside of Frankfurt

 

the bronx is up and the battery’s down (12. 469)

Reminiscent of this other etiquette campaign for the metro’s ridership, we enjoyed this exhibitions of the mock newspaper editions of the Subway Sun that lined cars from 1936 to 1965, featuring the illustrations of Fred Cooper (among the inaugeral inductees of the Society of Illustrators and also know for his miniatures and illuminated drop-caps for Life magazine and letterer behind the Cooper Black typeface) and Amelia Ross Opdyke “Oppy” Jones, who together promoted polite and considerate behaviour (the latter coining the word litterbug as a play on “jitterbug”) and NewYork City’s museums and special events as an enticement for residents and visitors to use the Interborough mass transit system. Much more from Hyperallergic at the link above.

the war is over (12. 448)

Just following the announcement of the cessation of fighting after the Fall of Saigon by US president Gerald Ford, one hundred thousand spectators gathered in New York’s Central Park for a final rally with congress member Bella Abzug and concert organised by Paul Ochs (previously) with a lineup featuring Pete Seeger, Odetta, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and others. After a duet with Baez of the ballad “There but for Fortune”, the concert closed his Ochs’ famous protest anthem, overshadowed by but not to be confused with John Lennon’s song with a similar same name, which was inspired in part by poet Allen Ginsberg’s 1966 declaration that the Vietnam war was over and that it could be ended by simply saying so (“if you want it” like the above) and stripping it of legitimacy—Och’s final public performance, though Lady Gaga sang it for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Angry artists painting angry signs
Use their vision just to blind the blind
Poisoned players of a grisly game
One is guilty and the other gets the point to blame—pardon me if I refrain

With the choral response: I declare the war is over
It’s over, it’s over

Suffering mental health problems exacerbated by heavy drinking that ultimately led to his suicide in April of the following year, friends and family say that Ochs died many deaths, lastly taking on the persona of one John Butler Train, telling people that this impersonator had murdered him and had replaced him—and in 1968, politically with the violence of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, in 1972, professionally, after being strangled in Tanzania and deciding he could no longer sing, on 11 September 1973, spiritually, when the government of Chile was overthrown by US involvement and finally mentally with this psychotic break. Ochs’ legacy continues with numerous tributes and cultural references as well as a strong influence on subsequent artists.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica) plus the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1927)

seven years ago: Muggertonian star charts, Russian electioneering plus Gaslight (1944)

eight years ago: wood libraries, Trump deflects from ties to Putin, bringing back the Microlino plus mathematical music

ten years ago: the brotagonist of this story, a visit to Hanau plus a visit to the Leipzig Zoo

eleven years ago: rebooting Star Wars plus Kierkegaard’s Either/Or

untitled (12. 410)

Via Just a Car Guy (to demonstrate he is Trainspotting Spice—smashing—How about Sporty-but-interested-in-other-things Spice? And then there’s the little ginger one, full of useless information about manta rays… We can relate) we are treated to the highlights from an excellent New York photography retrospective featuring some superlative street scenes, images of Keith Haring, Peggy Guggenheim and the pictured Georgia O’Keeffe with a tumbler of wine and slice of cheese whilst being chauffeured in the American southwest. The latter two were captured by the world-class visual documentarian Tony Vaccaro (see previously), a scout during World War II in the European theatre and remaining to document post-war life before returning to the United States to work primarily as a celebrity and fashion photographer.

life is much more successfully looked at from a single window, after all (12. 379)

First published by Charles Scribner’s Sons on this day in 1925, the Jazz Age novel by writer F Scott Fitzgerald, although well-received initially by critics, many felt it fell short of his earlier works, This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and the Damned and was commercially a disappointment, and the fact it is one of the most widely-read texts by American high school students and that there was occasion to mark the anniversary would have elicited surprise for the author, whom also considered considered his literary career to be a failure. Reevaluation over the ensuing decades count it among the masterpieces of the early twentieth century, attracting scholarly attention over his questions of social class, environmental conservation, gender, race and disillusionment with the American Dream, aspirations and refinements that speak across the years. The story about careless people is in part based on lived experience with Fitzgerald’s infatuation with a socialite out of his league, raucous parties and a sensationalised true crime story involving a love-triangle in New Jersey. Completing the manuscript whilst staying in the French Riviera, Fitzgerald shopped around for publishers, reworking the draft several times and with working-titles Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires, On the Road to West Egg, Under the Red, White and Blue and The Gold-Hatted Gatsby before reluctantly settling on the alliterative one in deference to Alai-Fournier’s singular tragic character Le Grand Meaulnes (often rendered for English readers as The Wanderer). The dust jacket artwork for the first edition is Spanish painter Francisco Cugat’s Celestial Eyes, an abstract representation of a flapper suspended above a fun-fair evoking New York’s Coney Island, the commission being presented to Fitzgerald before the novel was finished and becoming a motif in the story, prompting him to finalise the book before it went to another author’s work, maintaining an unusual correspondence between artist and author, whose original painting was rediscovered in the bin of the publishing house’s archives decades later like so many unsold volumes of The Great Gatsby’s first run.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Dune: The Musical (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: spirit animals and animal spirits, double-storey letters, floating dorms in Denmark plus assorted links to enjoy

eight years ago: sacrificial soda plus disinformation mills

nine years ago: a Canadian foothold in the Caribbean plus money laundering and the Panama Papers

ten years ago: more links to revisit plus an appreciation of Designing Women

8x8 (12. 365)

museum of now: This American Life invites us to sit with and reflect on the artefacts of day and hour 

rift valley: a Trump appointed special envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tiffany’s father-in-law, seeking to make a deal on mineral resources in hopes of securing peace with Rwandan rebels 

fay wray: a swarm of drones recreate the iconic scene of King Kong scaling the Empire State building  

toast malone: a short clip of the singer performing Circles, animated on one hundred thirty-three slices of bread  

altair 8800: a retrospective of Microsoft at fifty 

the bronx is up and the battery’s down: new NYC subway map is an homage to an early digrammatic version  

blanket non-fraternisation policy: US bans government personnel stationed in China from forming relationships with locals 

national endowment for the humanities: US museums, libraries and archives see their grants terminated—see previously

6x6 (12. 335)

reading between the lines: Trump regime shutters access to border-straddling opera and library, the Haskell House, which served as neutral territory for family reunions and marriages during his first term’s travel ban  

shreve, lamb and harmon: hidden details of New York City’s iconic buildings—via Damn Interesting 

kennedy center honors: Conan O’Brien awarded the Mark Twain prize for American humour, embracing the irony and tension of the moment 

backstroke of the west: an incomprehensible translation and re-translation of a Star Wars bootleg DVD  

free spaced repetition scheduler: geography with positive reinforcement—via Maps Mania 

opsec: Trump administration inadvertently shared its plans to to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen with a journalist from The Atlantic

9x9 (12. 297)

ei-ei-o: a comparison onomatopoetic words for animal sounds across different languages—via Waxy   

acrostic: textile company’s branding has the aesthetics of concrete poetry 

destiny narrative: an omnibus post on the horrors and avoidability of war  

analog society: a British group performs live mash-up of notionally similar songs 

tectonic independence: why Greenland is an island and Australia a continent—see also   

360: Manhattan’s only revolving restaurant to reopen  

telephone game: Russia demands details from US before agreeing to any ceasefire agreement in Ukraine   

cross-walk: mimes direct traffic in Bogotá   

an old error has more friends than a new truth: proverbs and idioms from around the world

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus more FOIA follies

seven years ago: raising awareness for prosthetic limbs, Japan’s residential towers plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: provisions requiring employees submit to DNA screenings

nine years ago: what if the Singularity already happened, the doorway effect plus colourful ancient statuary

ten years ago: Disney reboots, even more links plus more made-up jobs

congestion pricing is dead—manhattan and all of new york is saved—long live the king (12. 244)

Again for saying the quiet part out loud, Trump is being ravished on social media and the press after liken himself to a monarch as he issued an executive order to revoke the recently enacted surcharge to encourage and support public transportation in New York City and has received considerable backlash from state officials who realise that the schemes have worked for other large metropolitan areas. This magisterial declaration is happening at the same time that Trump ordered federal prosecutors to drop the corruption investigation against disgraced mayor Eric Adams, a move which led to a succession of resignations by attorneys who could not abide by this curtailment of justice. Adams had been currying favour from Trump since the election in hopes of securing a pardon but in falling short of unconditional clemency (a royal prerogative it seems to me and wondering if such power has a place within a constitutional democracy) Trump is ostensibly exerting pressure on the mayor, since he could countermand that order to the justice department and pursue charges, to make sure that the city cooperates with immigration raids and municipal authorities don’t pushback on agents entering schools and churches. The GOP is leaning into Trump’s coronation and Democrats for their part are giving a history lesson on the American War of Independence.

movin’ on up (12. 190)

One of the longest-running sitcoms in television history and the second spin-off of All in the Family—after Maude—Norman Lear’s The Jeffersons follows the lives of the former neighbours of the Bunkers who were able to relocate from Queens to Manhattan (a deluxe apartment in the sky) due to the success of the couple’s dry-cleaning chain. The Jeffersons itself had one short-lived spin-off featuring their housekeeper, Florence, who takes a job as the team chief of a luxury hotel cleaning crew, and has continuity with the hospital drama E/R (the CBS production, lasting only one year, before being picked up by NBC a decade later in 1994 as ER, as developed by writer Michael Crichton, with the same cast of principals of George Clooney and Mary McDonnell). A traditional sitcom, the show occasionally had episodes covering serious subjects, like racism, gun-control, gender-identity and alcoholism and generally high ratings—though suffering from switching time-slots—it was ignominiously cancelled by the during the summer-break of its eleventh season in July 1985 without warning to the cast, Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley, and without a series finale.

happy ending (12. 168)

The US supreme court having rejected petitions from the president-elect to stop or delay the sentencing until after the inauguration (the justices not accepting the argument of broad immunity from prosecution when discharging duties as the executive), Trump was granted an unconditional discharge to respect the jury’s verdict of guilty on thirty four felony counts of misusing campaign funds for hush-money payments to a porn star and to not interfere with his ability to govern. While serving no jail time or liable to fine, this judgement delivered by a New York state judge is not subject to presidential, federal purview and could only be pardoned by the governor (not likely to happen) and the conviction, symbolic as it is, will remain on Trump’s record. And while he would probably prefer it not be on his Wikipedia page, if capable of the needed level of shame, critical thought or interiority, the sentence does have some potential impacts, by dint of his registration in Florida, he will be able to continue to vote in that state due to reciprocity with New York (see above), under federal law, Trump is not allowed to own a gun, must surrender a DNA sample to a New York database of convicts, possibly jeopardise the liquor licenses for his branded properties and similarly is barred from operating casinos under laws regarding moral turpitude, and while heads of state are allowed to travel without a passport, some countries, including Canada, Mexico, Israel, China, Ukraine, Turkey, India, Japan, Taiwan, South Africa and the UK reserve the right to prohibit visits by felons. The travel restrictions are unlikely of course to be enforced in Trump’s case and he could always ignore regulation or pressure states to change their laws. This does not affect his ability to hold federal office, however.

synchronoptica

one year ago: an epic tattoo homage to Abe Simpson (with sychronoptica), enjunkification and aging out of the internet plus the Phantom Time Theory and the fabricated Middle Ages

seven years ago: a look back at 1968, Trump’s new London embassy plus French terms against creeping Anglicisms

eight years ago: heatmaps of the world’s most popular photo spots plus kompromat on Trump

nine years ago: fans remember the life and times of David Bowie,  Borg ideal beauty plus assorted links worth revisiting

ten years ago: the democratic reforms of 1848, your hit-parade, a motion-detector in search of alien life plus separatist and secession movements in Europe

ease on down the road (12. 145)

Having opened the previous October in Baltimore, the musical by Charlie Smalls and William F Brown had its Broadway premier on this day in 1975, the production garnering several Tony awards, including Best Musical of the year and, and launching an international tour, several revivals and a cinematic adaptation in 1978. The retelling of the L Frank Baum franchise (see below also) in the context of contemporary African-American culture and featured an all-Black cast. Among many luminaries, the role of Scarecrow (left in charge of Emerald City when the charlatan Wizard departs with Dorothy, the city only being green as everyone was made to wear tinted glasses) was played by the recently departed actor and choreographer Hinton Battle—the character portrayed by Michael Jackson for the filmed version, who studied ballet under George Balanchine and had several other staged appearances including Dreamgirls, Miss Saigon and Sophisticated Ladies and numerous television credits, counting among them Quantum Leap, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Cat for the pilot of the un-optioned American version of Red Dwarf—a recast re-shoot of the trial episode roundly criticised as ‘White Dwarf’ (Cat would now be female and played by Terry Farrell, known for acting as Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: DS9) for its inclusion, unlike the British sitcom, of all Caucasian actors.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica), Book Review (1946), more on nominative determinism plus more on the Fermi Paradox

 

seven years ago: murder as a deterrent to nuclear war, Mitchiri Neko, municipal free-nets, resurrecting the aurochs plus the firing of FBI director James Comey

 

eight years ago: a cosmic frame of reference, asteroid prospecting plus imaging a black hole

 

nine years ago: the Epic of Gilgamesh plus alphabetising The Wizard of Oz

 

ten years ago: coffee and globalisation plus the cult of St Anne

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  

cloisonné 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

pray, observe the magnanimity (12. 126)

Following a soft-opening on this day in 1879 at the in hopes to forestall another episode of “copyright piracy,” Gilbert and Sullivan held the official premiere of their comic opera on New Year’s Eve at Fifth Avenue Theatre of New York City. The perfunctory but well attended and critically acclaimed performance was staged by a touring company in order to secure a British copyright in Paignton near Torquay, and with American law at the time respecting no foreign intellectual property rights, the collaborators with a US premiere hoped to avoid an encore of the previous year’s debut of HMS Pinafore, successful in London but rapidly taken up by American acting troupes with some one hundred and fifty unauthorised productions that took license with the libretto and netted no royalties for the authors. Publication of the score was also delayed until their reputation and credentials could be cemented, the show opening in London the following April. Both transatlantic runs were very well received and the narrative of an apprentice being released from his indenturehood with a sort of rumspringa from the impressment he was accustomed to (pirate tropes were quite in fashion at the time) and the piece endures as the duo’s most performed and referenced works.