seentour (12. 648)

H found a habour renting out sports boats for the day in Eldenberg, being on of themain tributaries and outflows for the system of glacial lakes that forms the landscape of the Mecklinburgerisch Seenplatte.

Maneuvering out of the marina, we took a turn in Lake Müritz and saw the palace, a fourteenth century knight’s manor redesigned most recently as a neorenaissance hotel,and boardwalk at Klink on the opposite shore from the campsite. Canals connect the major lakes and also saw Kölpinsee and Fleesensee.

We moored at the little fishing village of Damerow and had lunch at a place specialising in smoked local catch.

H had eel (Aal) but I am still too traumatised by Kurt Vonnegut’s passage in The Tin Drum to try though it did look good. There was a gathered regiment of swans to salute upon returning from a day on the lakes and our little dog was quite the trouper.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ) plus lethonomia 

thirteen years ago: WWII week: Berlin

fourteen years ago: counterfeit experiences 

sixteen years ago: diplomas mills  

ekranoplan (12. 576)

Recent intelligence suggests that China might be attempting to revive a Cold War leviathan known as the Soviet sea monster of the Caspian, the semi-legendary ekranoplan (экранопла́н, a screen-glider or ground-effect vehicle) an airfoil designed to fly just over the crests of the waves, invisible to radar, impervious to mines riding on a cushion of high air pressure and achieving speeds ten times faster than traditional maritime vessels, leaving fleets and coast defences no time to react. Photographs have emerged of apparent trials in the Sea of Bohai, near the Korean peninsula. DARPA was working on its own for the US navy—called a Liberty Lifter, the concept vehicle also known for its increased cargo delivery capacity with advantages other both ships and planes—but the programme was abruptly cancelled last month.

synchronoptica

one year ago: claim-jumping in the Arctic (with synchronopticæ), reproductive care in international waters, a local air show plus a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump

thirteen years ago: the Period Table typeface 

fourteen years ago: debt and pensions 

presqu'île (12. 560)

Returning to the long, narrow peninsula of Gârves opposite Port-Louis via the route sandwiched between two beach fronts, we took in some more views of the harbour and marina of this an storied fishing village and ancient former quarry.

Though stable since the Middle Ages, this tombolo (see previously, the first documented mention cutes three isolated islands) is the outermost reach of the drifting dune massiv and is threatened with erosion, especially in the built up areas.

The fortifications at Pohr-Puns was build at the end of the seventeenth century as advance defence for Port-Louis and Lorient and the batteries in the sparsely populated areas along the dunes were an experimental training grounds in the 1800s to test the range and effectiveness of artillery on battleships, known as the Gârves Commission, ballistic research continues here to this day under the auspices of a nearby naval base.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a visit to the Rocco di Caldè (with synchronopticæ) 

twelve years ago: plugging leaks 

thirteen years ago: redefining the second 

fourteen years ago: the introduction of the bar code 

fifteen years ago: busting a Russian spy ring 

le village aux cinq portes (12. 557)

Originally established as an annex for Port Louis (see below), the maritime hub Le Orient was significantly expanded during the age of transatlantic trade (including the triangular commerce in enslaved individuals) by the French East India Company, hence the name of the largest city in the region, shortened to Lorient—see previously—and though the chartered concern was also bankrupt with the South Sea Bubble but maintained its importance as an export centre. Feeling La Havre was too exposed, the Nazi Kriegsmarine established their largest U-Boot harbour here in 1940 and 1941, and despite heavy bombardment from Allied forces, they were unable to destroy the submarine pins and instead leveled the city to deny Germans further amenities.

Still an active port, ships continued to be built here for both military and civilian use.

Just down shore, we also visited the citadel (previously) of Port Louis—also first commissioned as a relief station for St Malo and entrepôt for the Compagnie française des Indes. With the Revolution, the royal wharf and arsenal was ceded to the state with the king covering its debts.

Many of the privateers fighting in the American revolutionary war set sail from here, and the citadel, presently a museum, was used as a prison for Emperor Napoleon III and members of the French resistance during WWII. It is separated by a long and narrow inlet to the sea, the lagoon referred to le petit mer de Gâvres after the peninsula and fishing village opposite, known for its technique of Pêche à pied—that is collecting seafood by hand at low tide.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Ponti dei Salti (with synchronopticæ)  

thirteen years ago: drone warfare (Dronen Bedrohung) plus incomplete graffiti

fourteen years ago: copper thievery 

fifteen years ago: shades of green and photosynthesis 

ria de étel (12. 548)

The port community known for its sardine and later tuna and mackerel fishing is named for the river (Stêr an Intel) that empties here into the gulf of Morbihan, and we owed the tip to a mural of the campsite’s bathrooms, learning such a picturesque ensemble of beached shipwrecks did exist and were very near by.

Treacherous sand bars in the shallows at the river’s mouth claimed many boats over the years and walking past the dunes afforded some nice views of the bay and the decaying hulls in the foreground.

synchronoptica

one year ago: master medium Patience Worth (with synchronopticæ) plus a blocked alpine pass

eleven years ago: the diplomatic corps written exam and educational standards 

twelve years ago: GCHQ and dragnet surveillance 

fifteen years ago: boycotting Big Oil 

sixteen years ago: an homage to towels 

silent running (12. 521)

We appreciated the chance to revisit the works of graphic designer Edward Wadsworth, best known as a forerunner of the art movement known as Vorticism which saw a practical—though possibly not as effective as hoped—application in transferring dazzle camouflage designs for the Royal Navy fleet during World War I (see previously)—through the medium of his woodcuts. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s fourth studio album was inspired in concept and cover art by a 1983 gallery showing of Wadsworth’s works. Conscripted as a sub-lieutenant himself, Wadsworth’s monochromatic pieces reflect the same maritime and industrial themes and abstractions to decode and encode. Much more from John Coulthart’s Feuilleton at the link up top.

desiccant (12. 369)

Via Web Curios, we appreciated learning about the pervasive packets of silica gel we’ve mostly encountered inside bags of doggy treats (not a prize per se and while not necessarily harmful to handle made of the same silicon dioxide that makes up glass for drinkware, wind shields and screens for electronic devices, a less device and porous form of glass but definitely not to be eaten) and sometimes lining the pockets of new clothes and soles of shoes—which although we’ve been rather compliantly socking in linen drawers for sometime now (the pictured sachet of an oxygen scavenger is materially something totally different but also extends the sell-by-date and keeps content fresh) based on something once read about how they can combat dampness and mildew, we realised we knew nothing about the history and growth of the industry that mirrors global trade and just-in-time delivery. The process for the manufacture of the nodules was mature by the 1930s, the beads exhibiting the rather remarkable property of absorbing forty percent of its weight in water vapour but there was not really a market for the pouches of wicking agent until the age of globalisation when everything from garments to crisps to gadgets where subject to a range of environmental factors air and sea and overland before getting to retailers and consumers. Rather than making packaging or shipping containers more robust to withstand these changing conditions, silica gel distributors began offering a less expensive alternative—complete with a protocol of how many packets might be needed depending on a product’s composition and journey—to stave off despoiling moisture. While the material can be recharged, regenerated (see also), stuck in a drawer, they have limited effect. More from Scope of Work at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: 1974’s Eurovision finale (with synchronoptica) plus Annie Lennox’ debut solo album

seven years ago:  assorted links to revisit, a coup in South Korea, the rediscovery of Pompeii plus Florida restricts public beach access

eight years ago: textile artist Dorothy Grebenak, protesting Putin, Sweden’s failure museum, designing Trump’s border wall, animated antiques plus the MAR-A-LAGO act

nine years ago: mapping Mt Fuji plus an exercise in character building

ten years ago: Motor City Mannheim

the fees being charged by panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to panama by the us—this complete 'rip-off' of our country will immediately stop (12. 111)

Though US president-elect Trump’s stupid antics are already too much to keep up with, they become too hard to ignore once the enter the territory of diplomatic crises and quashing internationally agreed upon norms of behaviour. A bundle of such instances can be traced to a recent assertion that America can and should reclaim the Panama Canal because of perceived unfair transit fees applied to US flagged vessels (never mind how America tanked British supremacy over a similar squabble in the Suez)—which seem to have antecedents in a Trump branded hotel in the capital that failed to pay Panamanian income taxes and social security for employees. The operation and management is administered (since New Year’s Eve 1999 when the US handed over the concession) by the Panama Canal Authority, a government agency which considers the waterway inalienable patrimony. Per the Torrijos-Carter treaties (see above) negotiated in 1977, America retains a right to defend the canal from threats to neutral operations but holds no claim to it. While there are two ports in the isthmus operated by China, there are no indications that American ship traffic has been affected, though imposing higher transit fees on non-US carriers might be seen as a way to bolster planned universal tariffs. At the same time, Trump is also renewing calls for the sale of Greenland to America (following offers to annex Canada as the fifty-first state), calling ownership and control of the Danish autonomous territory “an absolute necessity” for reasons of national security and global freedom. Neither property is for sale.

the haves and have yachts (12. 089)

Via tmn, we are directed to a brief chronology of the superyacht (its definition and the more exclusive class of gigayacht) and how that history corresponds with the larger world of oligarchy and status, beginning with (of course with acknowledged antecedents) shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis’ Christina O, a surplus Canadian anti-submarine frigate purchased in 1954 and outfitted with swimming pool that could be converted into a dance floor an appointed with furnishing crafted from the leather of whale foreskin and pornographic scenes from the Odyssey carved in whale teeth. Only keeping it for three years, the Trump Princess is flipped to another Saudi prince in 1991 after one of the previous owner’s casinos went bankrupt. A boasted new yacht, the Trump Princess II, which will be “something in excess of four hundred feet long—closer to five hundred feet” fails to materialise. There are dozens of other data points and anecdotes to consider on how that unattainable lifestyle informs the everyday reality of us all.

floating instrument platform (11. 951)

Originally launched in 1962 by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the US Office of Naval Research and decommissioned since 2017, the R/P FLIP, the vessel (see previously) designed to partially flood its ballast and capsize to pitch it backwards ninety degrees, was headed to the scrapyard but has now been saved and will see a second incarnation as an environmental research ship. Past studies included whale behaviour, ocean turbulence and effects on intensity and directionality of underwater acoustics—presumably to track the movement of submarines—see also. The engineering marvel able to reorient its labs ninety metres under the surface and shield experiments from the wind and waves is being purchased by DEEP, a private consortium devoted to exploration and developing subsea habitats, and is being retrofitted in France. More from the CBC at the link above.

k kilo (11. 930)

 

Via Kottke, we thoroughly enjoyed this hand illustrated overview of international maritime signal flags—developed and standardised to facilitate communication between ships over distances and language barriers, like the radio spelling alphabets (for both letters and numbers) which follow similar conventions to the same ends. The exercises in morphology and conveying more complex messages with heraldry (the above, per pale or and azure, has the lone syntax, “I wish to talk with you”—see previously on how such language has shifted) were fascinating and Rabbit Waves gives similar treatment to day-signs, markers used in lieu of signal flags, and semaphore. 

costa-del-home (11. 929)

Dissecting this article about the trending popularity of cruise vacations by people identifying with the cohort of Millennials and GenZ—via Web Curios—left me depressed and angry, not knowing whether to lay the onus on the industry catering to a different demographic, sensational generational baiting characterising progenitorial peers as stay-ins and homebodies or latch it to the holiday-makers finding appeal not in the port-of-call but never leaving the house, reliably fed and bed with the opportunity for a few no stakes sharable moments. What do you think? What hit as really was the commiseration over vacations that had no gone to plan and finding such a preferable alternative in the safe and secure with all the familiar comforts, especially after revolts against this mode of tourism.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: crony capitalism hindering Puerto Rico’s recovery 

eight years ago: a half-buried church in Helsinki

nine years ago: banksters sentenced in Iceland, Germany’s little reunification plus Dutch bubble houses

twelve years ago: vampiric gourds