Having previously learned of the modern mudlarking off the coast of Cornwall through the Lego Lost at Sea project, a collecting and clean-up initiative that’s been very eye-opening about the amount of micro- and macroplastic in the oceans, we were delighted to get an update in the form of this rare discovery a of piece (numbered as it were like Pokรฉmon cards since there’s a precise accounting of the shipwrecked manifest) in this octopus figure that went down with a cargo ship at Land’s End in 1997 recently by a local teenager. Some five million bricks in total went overboard when the vessel, the Tokio Express, was hit by a rogue wave in a storm, with the same teenager collecting nearly eight hundred parts—plus some nice fossils and shells—over the past two years.
Saturday 27 April 2024
Thursday 18 April 2024
10x10 (11. 496)
the cloud under the seas: the fleet of secret submarine cable repair ships
sarbox: US Supreme Court appears skeptical about charging January Sixth rioters with obstruction of justice as defined by a law made in the aftermath of the Enron accounting scandal
mix-and-match orthography: how Japanese writers navigate a choice between four writing systems (see also)—via Cardhouse
walled gardens have deep roots: the imperative of rewilding (previously) the internet lest the duopolies take over—via Waxybongo bash: Wild Stereo Drums (1961)
embroidered surveillance: cross-stitch works of closed-circuit security camera footage
the questor tapes: a 1974 television sci-fi drama about an android with incomplete programming by Star Trek alumni Gene L Coon, D C Fontana and Gene Roddenberry—via r/Obscure Media
tegelwippen: Dutch towns compete to remove garden paving and embrace weeds—via Miss Cellania
voir dire: jury selection continues for the criminal trial of Donald J Trump—with some potential jurors being unintentionally doxed by the media
atlas 2.0: Boston Dynamics’ new humanoid robot
synchronoptica
one year ago: Atelier Elvira, an unwoke chatbot plus assorted links worth revisiting
two years ago: more gachapons plus an introduction to risography
three years ago: the launch of the Disney Channel (1983), an experimental light house plus Wham in China (1985)
four years ago: more links to enjoy, the International Amateur Radio Union plus The Spirits Book (1897)
five years ago: concrete monoliths moved by hand plus Mueller Report redactions
Sunday 14 April 2024
6x6 (11. 488)
dolia: new research reveals Roman wines to be of premium quality, contrary to conventional wisdom, and comparable to modern European standards
second amendment rights: factors informing the arming of Americaready player two: the ghost of a departed loved one preserved in an untouched video game console
a supposedly fun thing that i’ll never do again: the story of Zenith, David Foster Wallace’s (previously) cruise experience—via Nag on the Lake
on brand: a look at the author of reinstated 1864 legislation in Arizona—see more
last of the summer wine: the untimely demise of the once trendy, effervescent piquette
Saturday 13 April 2024
the bessemer saloon ship (11. 484)
Steel magnate and prolific inventor during the late nineteenth century and second-wave of the Industrial Revolution—whose innovations were uniquely punctuated with enduring commercial success, including steam-power and techniques that improved steel manufacturing and solidified Sheffield’s reputation for more than a hundred years as a major industrial centre (also the namesake for the Alabama steel town) as well as numerous other improvements in material engineering with glass and iron, Henry Bessemer’s chronic disposition to sea-sickness inspired to come up with his rather singular flop. Though working in principal and in models, the sea-trial ended in disaster, crashing into the pier at Calais as it attempted to leave the harbour—outside of the control of the crew—however his idea for a self-righting cabin, a saloon, that swung on gimbals and hydraulic cylinders during cross-Channel journeys for passengers’ comfort in rough weather was ahead of its time. More from Amusing Planet at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit
two years ago: the Unicode Technical block of characters
three years ago: the show goes on, the legacy of project MKUltra, a capsule hotel annex in the woods plus more on Star Fleet uniforms
four years ago: extended Eastertide plus funny bios for birds
five years ago: empathy and tribalism, more coding by radio, retro McDonald’s packaging plus perennial cereal crops
Sunday 18 February 2024
saut de chat (11. 360)
Via Fancy Notions, we are introduced to the career and filmography of pioneering Soviet Armenia animator Lev Atamanov (ิผีฅึีธีถ ิฑีฟีกีดีกีถีตีกีถ) and director through his 1969 collaboration with composer Alfred Schnittke, Ballerina on the Boat, with choreography help by members of the Bolshoi. Teaching the sailors to be more graceful, the passenger saves the ship during a storm with her moves. After founding studios in Yerevan, Atamanov later joined Soyuzmultfilm, adapting many classic fairy tales and creating narratives of subtle satire with gentle humour and positive characters.
Saturday 17 February 2024
ลผuraw (11. 355)
Via Strange Company, not only do we learn that a medieval token of affection, a tin badge in the shape of a turtledove with the inscription “Amor vincit omnia” was found by the port crane of Gdรกnsk, we also find out that its discovery is owing to an extensive renovation project to preserve the thirteenth century technological and architectural marvel on the Motลawa. The crane, human-powered by crew running hamster wheel fashion on treadmills was capable of hoisting cargo and shipbuilding materials weighing several tonnes, has been closed to the public since 2020 but will soon reopen with new exhibits on the city’s mercantile history with holographic docents and period characters to act as guides. More from t he History Blog at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: conspiracy theories about walkable cities plus sending a terminator back in time to save the human internet
two years ago: Saint Mesrop Mashtots plus Chess ‘72
three years ago: first and final frames, ten rules of good design plus more bardcore
four years ago: custom facial coverings
five years ago: AI-generated faces plus new names for very large and very small numbers
catagories: ๐ต๐ฑ, ๐บ, ๐ข, libraries and museums, Middle Ages
Friday 2 February 2024
stag & nag (11. 316)
The apparatus of a seagoing vessel’s box compass was suspended in alcohol in order to prevent freezing and the magnet from seizing up, and through this rather incredible punitive process imposed on a serial offender with a particular craving for tapping the navigation of ships, we encounter an impressive clipping’s introductory copy—cited without the aid of a ready resource like a Wikipedia stub—on an etymology which with we weren’t familiar. Whilst acquainted with the likely disappointingly spurious folk roots of the Elephant & Castle, more authentic instances of canting as branding like ‘spread-eagle’ (in reference to the imperial arms of the Reichsadler) to indicate an establishment where German wine and beer was sold, the public backlash against publicans’ paired namings as early as the start of the eighteenth century with often incongruous results, as opposed to patronage or services provided, like the cheese inn of Stilton. The not uncommon pub name “Goats and Compasses,” (see above) may come from, like “Pig and Whistle” the corruption of a benediction, piggin wassail in Anglo-Saxon and might be derived from a mishearing of ‘God encompasses [us]’—either that, of the canting arms of two guilds, the Worshipful Companies of Cordwainers and Carpenters, each with three of the domesticated livestock and three compasses, the drafting instruments rather than the navigation aid. More on the recidivist James Wishart Lyon and his unusual compulsion at Weird Universe at the link up top.
Tuesday 12 December 2023
you’re going the wrong way—dammit—the bow’s underwater (11. 183)
As our faithful chronicler informs, the Irwin Allen disaster drama based on the eponymous novel by Paul Gallico from three years prior and capitalising on a spate of star-studded survival misadventures of the decade, like Airport and The Towering Inferno, had its debut in the US on this day in 1972. The acclaimed and high-grossing film featuring the talents of Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall and Gene Hackman follows the passengers and crew of the SS Poseidon on its final voyage during New Year’s from New York City to Athens, where it will be decommissioned and scrapped. An undersea quake in the Aegean triggers a tsunami and the ship is capsized and turned upside down. Scored by conductor John Williams, the performance “The Morning After” (garnering an Oscar for best original song) became a hit single, prompting an album of the soundtrack to be released.
synchronoptica
one year ago: a modernist sanctuary plus more advances in fusion technology
two years ago: assorted links to revisit, the satellite Uhuru, the Human League plus Tilda Swinton as libraries
three years ago: your daily demon: Caim, vaccines and alcohol don’t mix, more Breton saints plus a daytrip to Bedheim
four years ago: Authority is a Necessary Evil, more words of the year, the Heritage Trust and Stonehenge, another UK General Election plus the etymology of Antwerp
five years ago: Persons of the Year, Beyoncรฉ as HTTP codes, an auto graveyard plus a computerised sneaker
Monday 4 December 2023
the peace ship (11. 165)
With detectable parallels to modern day technological utopianists and branded altruism, industrialist and automaker Henry Ford launched his chartered vessel Oskar II from Hoboken, New Jersey on this day in 1915 on as trans-Atlantic mission to petition for a cease-fire in Europe and a de-escalation (anti-preparedness) in armaments. Inviting prominent pacifists to join, Ford hoped that the audacity of the act would spur a truce among belligerents, Ford’s plan was at first greeting with respect by the press and public, however opinion began to sour on this attempt at amateur diplomacy with in-fighting amongst the activist and fabricated claims that the European powers were willing to negotiate, at the behest of Ford or anyone else, fears that such antics might make the situation worse—and for embarking during an influenza pandemic, which spread through crew and passengers during the five-day voyage. Violently ill and receiving a cold reception from skeptical delegates in Oslo, Ford retired to his hotel suite, granting one talk with reporters (not mentioning the Peace Ship) before convinced to seek out of the county by way of a steamer departing from Bergen. Despite the organiser’s conspicuous absence and the inability to secure any meetings of consequence with any officials with influence, there were several other ports-of-call around Europe, under the banner of the Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation, still financed by Ford up until 1917 when it became clear that US entry into fighting was inevitable.
Sunday 24 September 2023
your captain, merrill stubing (11. 021)
Premiering on this day in 1977 after three pilots airing as made for television movies and broadcast for nine seasons—including five specials—the Aaron Spelling venture of the port-of-calls of the MS Pacific Princess, featured in a Saturday night weekly lineup including Fantasy Island. Though not the first to do so, it solidified the cross-over, guest-star anthology format, bringing in celebrities from film and pioneered parallel plots, with an A-, B- and C-stories in each episode. Aside from the roles of captain, ship’s doctor, and your bartender (promoted to yeoman pursuer, portrayed by Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, and Ted Lange, the cast rotated. Fred Grady as your yeoman pursuer—Burl “Gopher” Smith was in all the televised episodes but opted out of the specials to campaign for the US congress.
Wednesday 20 September 2023
the panic of 1873 (11. 011)
The period of economic stagnation originally referred to as the Great or Long Depression before the interwar slump set new standards for the definition and though caused by a range of contributing factors including the opening of the Suez Canal that was disruptive for entrepรดt trade (also controlled by the British Empire, goods from the Far East were formerly warehoused in South Africa with the previous sea route around the Cape of Good Hope and the traditional sailing ships could not be adapted to navigate the new short-cut as the prevailing Mediterranean winds pushed them back into the Red Sea), devastating fires in Chicago and Boston and Germany going off the bimetallic standard—precipitating a fall in silver prices, the financial crisis with global implications was chiefly attributed to rampant speculation by investors in railroads and boom in their construction particularly in the United States following the Civil War. The panic began on this day in 1873 with the collapse of the Jay Cooke & Company, an innovative banking institution and brokerage house that pioneered the use of “wire” transfers and confirming transactions over telegraph lines, overextended and unable to sell on millions in bonds it had secured to build a second transcontinental line. With the railroad company and the bank indebted, bankruptcy soon followed with contagion spreading to other financial institutions and the insurance industry, prompting the closure of the New York Stock Exchange for ten days with immediate redundancies in the manufacturing sector. Railroad workers went on strike in protest of reduced wages, further exacerbating the crisis and knock-on effects overseas which led to a wave in immigration to the States that coincided with the easing of the turmoil by 1879.
Saturday 15 July 2023
6x6 (10. 884)
purl 2.0: performative social media is symptomatic of influencer culture and won’t get better until we do
flag of convenience: the secret language of ships
extended character set: contenders for inclusion on the new Emoji list include a Phoenix and a broken chainnew normal: a third of the US under a dangerous heatwave
sag-aftra: members of the Hollywood actors’ guild join the writers’ strike—see previously, see more
eternal september: the Threads bandwagon, matriculation is “a contradictory mixture of earnest online community building and craven creator-brained growth hacking”
synchronoptica
one year ago: “Hanoi Jane” (1972) plus Gangam Style (2012)
two years ago: the elder Fuรพark and the runestone of Rรถk plus the Stone Ship of Nรคssja
three years ago: a variant line-rider animation with a synchronised roller coaster, Pollux and Castor plus more official American state junk
four years ago: Trump attacks the Squad, honouring Alan Turing plus finding Bob Ross’ lost landscapes
five years ago: assorted links to revisit, Trump’s Scottish golf course, Nintendo made a sewing machine game plus more Brexit fun—aren’t we having fun yet
Friday 23 June 2023
8x8 (10. 828)
never change: a gallery of US high school annuals from the 70s and 80s—via Web Curios
oceangate: executive piloting the submersible tourist vessel on its fateful descent has a familial connect to those who went down with the Titanic—more here
mechanical turk: many of the human tasked to train AI are recursively outsourcing their work to AIs—see more, see also
rocket lab: a visit to Norton Space Props, a junkyard full of salvage and surplus items from the Space Race
scene together: the 70s craze of his and hers matching fashions—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links
atoms for peace: a tour of the nuclear-powered cruise ship, the NS Savanna—see previously
katakana: the vintage signage of shops and restaurants in Japan captured as digital fonts—also via Web Curios
synchronoptic
one year ago: My Sharona (1979), Logan’s Run (1976) plus the Sterling Area (1931)
two years ago: sustenance from CO2 plus St John’s Eve
three years ago: assorted links to revisit, satisdiction plus another most favoured word, acnestis
Monday 12 June 2023
6x6 (10. 802)
rolling stock: a home studio and venerable teleworking space travels from backyard to the woods on a rail line—see also
canopy: a treetop walkway in Fyresdal, Norway
alphabetical order: an appreciation of indexing in the age of miscellany
tugboat: since the 1970s, prospective tanker captains have been training with tiny ships at this centre in France—via Messy Nessy Chic—see also
ablaut reduplication: the unwritten, consensus rule of spoken English we all tend to obey—see also
Tuesday 23 May 2023
6x6 (10. 762)
nightingale-olympic: the time capsule that is Bangkok’s first specialty retail establishment—via Messy Nessy Chic
splinternet: legal jurisdictions—for reasons real, specious and facetious dividing the internetrecruitment bonus: Florida governor is offering cash incentives to bring violent police officers to departments across the state—more here
loveboat insanity: Poseidon’s Underworld reviews their lodestar film and more shared movie DNA
puriteens: prudishness is taking over some parts of the internet
bhs downtown: a Vermont high school hosted in an abandoned department store
Sunday 21 May 2023
8x8 (10. 760)
the four republican “freedoms”: the US GOP manifesto is not geared for governance—see previously
little deuce coupe: modern automaker faithfully fashions the unrealised 1974 Pony by Giorgetto Giugiaro (see also)—unveiled in Lake Como
action kids: a 1965 choreographed work-out to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ rendition of The Third Man themethe heart of the ocean: advanced scanning technique produce a digital twin of the wreck of the Titanic
a corecore experiment: presenting the post-post-post-truth future of AI—see previously
consider the jackalope: more—see also—on this real, taxidermic cryptid’s origins and implications
little darlin: the demo-tape from 1992 from an unknown duo that changed their name after reviewer called them “daft punky trash”—see previously
tax, title and license: the state of Texas to charge electric-vehicle drivers extorted fees to register their cars
Thursday 18 May 2023
there’s a port on a western bay and it serves a hundred ships a day (10. 748)
Released as the lead single off their eponymous debut album, the ballad, released on this this day in 1972—written by lead guitarist and vocalist Elliot Lurie—from Looking Glass tells the story of a barmaid, who pining for long long departed, rebuffs the advances of sailors transiting through, who proclaimed his life, his lover and his lady was the sea. The song’s enduring legacy includes an explosion in the popularity of the baby name “Brandy” in the early to mid-1970s and Barry Manilow reworking his standard as “Mandy” (originally with the same title) to avoid confusion plus a dozen cover versions. She serves them whiskey and wine.
Saturday 13 May 2023
8x8 (10. 737)
what is a strikebreaker: past gameshow champion Ken Jennings to host Jeopardy! during its final episodes for the season, crossing the picket line during the Writers’ Guild protest
captain’s table: a tour of the Hamburg-America Line’s SS Prinzessin Vitoria Luise—the world’s first purpose built cruise ship, launched in 1900
the big four: the dominant professional services networks providing auditing and assurance advise clients on how to cheat their way through compliance inspectionbull-boards: more on the Osborne brandy mascot that’s become an icon of Spain
get your kicks on route 66: ahead of its centenary, the historic American highway gets a much needed refurbishment—via Miss Cellania
c’est le dernier qui a parlรฉ qui a raison: ahead of tonight grand prix in Liverpool, a look back on the geopolitics of Eurovision—see also, see previously
lucky duck gets private equitied: the latest cartoon fro, Ruben Bolling—see previously, see also
home port: despite the ban, cruise ships are still docking in Venice
scabs: Starbucks announced closure of three franchises in Ithaca, New York has nothing to do with the workers’ decision to unionise
Saturday 15 April 2023
8x8 (10. 676)
footprint: a sobering visual essay showing the deleterious impacts of cruises from Puget Sound to Alaska—via Things Magazine
kitakyushu kaku-chi: a look into Japan hidden liquor shop drinking culture
the wonderful world of tupperware: a vintage celebration of the storage solution’s storage solution as the company goes insolventbea wolf: a re-telling of the epic poem for both kids and grow-ups
influential flop: deconstructing the Apple Lisa—Locally Integrated Software Architecture
great firewall: the US state of Montana moves to implement a ban on TikTok
subcal: an exploration of the best of Tokyo’s fandom nightlife
greenhouse effect: acknowledging the contributions of the mostly forgotten Eunice Foote, pioneer of climate science
Sunday 9 April 2023
benchmark (10. 664)
As image and sound formats have their standards and baselines, so too does model rendering with the 3DBenchy model, designed by Daniel Norรฉe on this day in 2005 as a “jolly 3D printing torture-test” to calibrate devices. The scalable little tugboat floats in water, if printed correctly in most media and is estimated to be the most printed object—like a “Hello World!” for the hobbyist and professional and an in-joke in the design community—like referencing the foundational Newell Teapot of computer-aided drafting or the Pixar lamp. There are annual challenges with designers putting the model through the paces for accuracy, agility and speed.