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.
Friday, 25 April 2025
untitled (12. 410)
Thursday, 20 March 2025
reference epoch (12. 320)
Via Waxy, we are directed to a single-purpose website that untethers dates from the common era (which still is predicated on AD and BC) an makes time relative to whatever historical (or prehistorical) marker one wishes to use. In addition to showcased epoch events, there is also a simple script to install for one’s own project. 2025 is 7,5kAC—that is After Cheese.
Saturday, 8 February 2025
curds and whey (12. 215)
Google has edited its commercial slotted to play during the Super Bowl, promoting its Gemini AI model pitching the use-case scenario of a small, independent cheesemonger using the chatbot to craft a description about Gouda for his shop’s website. The erroneous statistic that Gouda makes up “fifty to sixty percent of the world’s cheese consumption” was replaced in the ad with “one of the most popular cheeses in the world,” the false claim apparently regurgitated from a webpage called cheese.com filled with AI generated, SEO-optimised (see redundant acronym syndrome) blogs. The AI assistant’s responses have the disclaimer that they are “not intended to be factual” but rather framed as a writing aid and that one should perform some fact-checking, presumably googling it.
Sunday, 27 October 2024
9x9 (11. 936)
die krรผmelmonster: in 2013 the German version of Cookie Monster pilfered and ransomed the golden Leibniz Kek for charity
bad map projection #102: a blended USA / Australia gazette that almost works
0,1 arcsec: hunting for dark matter and dark energy the Euclid space telescope (previously) unveils a dazzlingly 3D map of one percent of the Cosmos—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links
bob & carol & martin & barbara: various adaptations of a comedy about partner-swapping during the sexual revolution
red lion passage: alleyways of London then and now
bokeh and backscatter: spirit photography and the history of the medium— the New Shelton wet/dry
clockwork universe: The Birth of the Robot by Len Lye—see previously
geoconfirmed: a volunteer group tagging the space-time coordinates for footage of conflict zones to combat disinformation
cheese heist: using an elaborate scam, £300 000 pilfered from artisan cheddar makers—see previously—via jwz
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

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
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
Sunday, 10 March 2024
counter culture (11. 413)
The revitalised linkroll of Mx Tynehorne’s cabinet of hypertext curiosities reminds of another venerable old school Wunderkammer, very much en vivant and worth checking out on a regular basis, in the aperiodic blog of Peter Blinn, Curious Notions. Covering anniversaries and superlatives and obscure but useful tools in the main, it’s easy to get lost down a rabbit hole of shifting and surprising facts, which is undoubtedly a good feature for this sort of curation. Starting with a Monty Python-inspired cheesemongers’ survey of the rarest and most precious varieties just published for us turophiles, we learn that the among the most dear are traditionally caciocavallo—that is, transported by horseback, and derived from the milk of donkeys, derived from a tiny herd in the Balkans, a small-batch production influenced by folkways and the fact that the milk of an asinine jenny is counted as one of the leanest in the mammal family and produce sparingly compared to bovine sources.
Sunday, 11 February 2024
o wheel, o woe (11. 342)
Already under threat by regulators for its traditional packaging, we learn that Camembert and brie face a compound calamity due to a collapse in microbial diversity. The fungal strains that give distinctive flavours and characteristics and which producers have relied on for centuries are now demonstrating that consistency comes at a cost (see also), the favoured now standard Peniciliium camemberti no longer found in the wild. Propagation via cloning over generations have rendered the fungi less resilient and harder for cheesemakers to grow and the monoculture of fungi of these domesticated microbes also imperil the future of blue cheeses, like Gorgonzola and Roquefort, at least in their refined form.
Thursday, 25 January 2024
11x11 (11. 292)
liar’s dividend: digital propaganda and implausible deniability—via the New Shelton wet/dry
working cows dairy: a collection of superlative cheeses—via Kottke
the blazing world: a 1666 novel considered the first world of science fiction by a woman author
everglades jetport: uncovering the ruins of a failed supersonic runway floundering in the in the Florida wetlands—see previouslythe furby panic: US National Security Agency compelled to release a trove of documents outlining their ban of the toy as a potential instrument of espionage—via Waxy
press-gang: while most news outlets block AI crawlers used to scrape training data, right-wing media welcomes them—see previously
mac@40: a website showing every model of the Apple computer as it enters its fifth decade
winter in aizu: a woodblock series from Sosaku Hanga artist Kiyoshi Saito
you are both so much more than kenough: Hillary Clinton weighs in the Oscar nominations for Barbie—via Super Punch
time in a bottle: one bar’s water-clock has drained—though we’d not be adverse to a Harvey Wallbanger
white stork: the Ukraine war-sandbox and the rise of the AI-Military Complex—see previously
synchronoptica
one year ago: data-scrapping and copyright
two years ago: MediaWiki Day, more custom cars, Roman milestones plus an inexplicable fast food mascot
three years ago: your daily demon: Valac, assorted links to revisit plus the Torlonia Marbles
four years ago: vintage virtual dressing rooms, happy birthday Volodymyr Zelenskyy, more on the US Space Force plus Mendelssohn’s Wedding March
five year ago: photojournalist Jessie Tarbox Beals, a Droste homage, more links to enjoy, a Trump associate arrested plus cardinal notions
Thursday, 11 January 2024
11x11 (11. 259)
cheesemongering: a specialist seller experiments with fifty-six varieties to find the perfect grilled sandwich
vector portraits: photographs of drivers at speed traveling in Los Angeles
decision 2024: this is the biggest year yet—and possibly democracy’s biggest test with over half the world’s population voting within the next twelve months

electronics gives us a way of classifying things: Microsoft (now the most valued company in the world thanks to its part in AI, a font of misinformation) once explained to author Terry Pratchett how technology referees would make propaganda a thing of the past
squaring the circle: Substackers against Nazis—reloaded—and a reminder that one can’t be just a little bit facist
re-migration: a coalition of the far-right met outside of Berlin in November to discuss mass deportations
blanket immunity: Trump’s legal team presents arguments for a president above the law—setting up the US Supreme Court to either rule on his exoneration or eligibility
proxima swarm: US space agency supports bold proposal to reach the next nearest star system with a wall of tiny craft propelled by photons—see previously
flower taxi: a mobile florist from 1960s London
marie harel: producers of Camembert in Normandy fear EU recycling regulation could mean the end for their traditional wooden box packaging
Sunday, 19 November 2023
milbenkรคse (11. 126)
Strange Company directs our attention to an attempt to revive a foodway, a half a millennium old tradition that had all but died out during East German times when the government (perhaps wisely, and continues to inhabit a grey regulatory area) banned the production and distribution of live-mite food, thanks to the concerned efforts of two individuals in the village Wรผrchwitz, south of Leipzig. Also known as Spinnenkรคse, it was discovered accidentally (see also) by leaving curd (Quark) to age in a wooden box and then finding it ripened and edible, with a bit of a zesty after-taste thanks to an infestation of microscopic arachnids (Tyrophagus casei, memorial erected in 2009 in the only locality that makes it) whose bodies form the rind. It wasn’t until much later that people understood how it was being formed and apparently pairs well with beer or wine. More from Atlas Obscura at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: ASCII meme templates, the micronation Rose Island, an Egyptian surrealist movement, a word-generating bot plus vox populi out of context
two years ago: visiting Gdaลsk
three years ago: the Arecibo radio telescope decommissioned, a sad Christmas tree plus an just passed, much anticipated wine release
four years ago: the first Monรฉgasque television station plus assorted links to revisit
five years ago: The Last Unicorn, a 3D printed architectural pavilion, the German Youth Word of the Year plus artificial flowers to help the pollinators
Thursday, 7 September 2023
tyromancers (10. 990)
Via Nag on the Lake and Weird Universe, we discover a divination practise perfectly suited to our gang of turophiles in the form of telling one’s fortune by watching cheese congeal and coalesce and noting its characteristics—dating back to the Middle Ages, a time when people frequently consulted objects at hand for guidance. One technique described was for eligible individuals to inscribe the names of potential partners on a cheese and the first to moulder would indicate the best match. More at the links above.
Friday, 1 September 2023
8x8 (10. 978)
diyarbakฤฑr: archeologists discover a massive subterranean city under the Roman garrison at Zerzevan
aaro: the Pentagon launches a website to explore declassified information on unidentified anomalous phenomena, via Slashdot—also watch this instead
space for kitchen aerobics: the latest oversized monstrosity from McMansion Hell—previously

queso de cabrales: a hunk of artisanal cheese from Asturias fetches a record-setting price—via Strange Company
a directory of wonderful things: an expert curated selection of weird and delightful corners of the internet
chatgop: a conservative media outlet may have interviewed an AI generated Donald Trump
colossus of constantine: plans to restore the monumental statue of the Roman emperor built as a triumph for his victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
Tuesday, 11 July 2023
7x7 (10. 874)
fit for a king: a selection of ersatz castles for sale in the US
caliology: corvids using anti-bird spikes for nesting material
100ยบ in the shade: mapping tree shadows
free agent: labour force of the outsourced talk about the effects of the AI revolution—via Waxy
ravensbourne: finding the lost rivers of London—see previously
involuntary memory: the aetiology of earworms
cheese royal: Burger King in Thailand introduces a menu item composed of twenty slices of American cheese
Thursday, 25 May 2023
8x8 (10. 765)
simply the best: tributes pour in from around the world for the Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner—previously
fabric swatches meticulously arranged: piecing together the mystery of the dress diary of Missus Anne Sykes—via Nag of the Lake
midnight train: routes of Europe’s overnighters—see previously—via Kottke
pasteurised prepared cheese product: attempts at rehabilitating the impoverished state of American caseiculture
cotton tree: Sierra Leone’s iconic landmark brought down by a heavy storm
ะบะพะฝัะตะฟััะฐะปัะฝัะน ะบะพะฝัะตัะฒะฐัะธะทะผ: chief of Russian mercenary forces, retreating from Bakhmut, says that the offensive in Ukraine has backfired
chintzy: a history of the calico, block printed textile
hollywood babylon: occultist and underground maker of experimental short films, Kenneth Anger has passed away—see previously
Sunday, 29 January 2023
8x8 (10. 508)
musiclm: a Google sandbox experiment for audio generation from rich captions—via Waxy and Web Curios—see previously
krewe of karens: i would like to see the Mardi Gras manager
semi-stagionato: an ancient method for surviving the COVID cheese glut made have improved the region’s pecorino cheeses

party (of one): Broadway Barbara’s “Dance for Your Life!”—see also
an absurd italian gastronomic religion: the ironical, fascist sauce that outlived the war on pasta—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links—lots more to explore there
you know i always wanted to pretend that i was an architect: attribute these quotes to either Seinfeld’s George Costanza or GOP darling George Santos
magic voice: more prompts and audio continuation courtesy of Google’s suite of AI tools
Saturday, 3 December 2022
6x6 (10. 357)
yuletide: Spitalfield’s Life welcomes the Festive Season with George Cruikshank’s illustrations—see previously

hoops and loopholes: NPR’s Planet Money surveys the US tax code and tax-exemptions
curds and whey: the ecosystems that make up our cheeses—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links
sight and sound: a once-a-decade poll of critics and filmmakers rates the top one hundred movies of all time
the duchy of rutland: a Christmas at Belvoir Castle
Thursday, 1 December 2022
week-by-week (10. 350)
Contributing correspondent and consultant Tom Whitwell, in an annual tradition has posted a collection of interesting facts he has gleaned over the past twelve months, highlighting one intriguing idea per week. The entire list is well worth your while to peruse. We've previously encountered item twenty—if you want a question answered on the internet, then post a wrong answer—in the form of Cunningham’s Law and the penultimate Swiss cheese cartel behind fondue but most were wholly new to us. We especially liked the advice on using conversational doorknobs to afford both parties to digress and confess, the fanciful Russian history articles on Chinese Wikipedia that went unnoticed for a decade (see also), inscrutable AIs—one accurately differentiating male from female eyes but none can figure out how—and the proposal for heavenbanning: instead of deplatforming an individual, replace their followers with artificial sycophants, ditto head bots and cutting off that bad actor from human interaction. Which one is your favourite?
Monday, 17 October 2022
7x7 (10. 232)
cheesewrights and turophiles: Noรซlle Janaczewska on the culinary and artistic history of cheese
causal observer: a teenager in Trondhjem called Christian Charlotte Elster captured various scenes of Regency-Era Norway in the early nineteenth century–via Messy Nessy Chic

putinversteher: Russian leadership enlisting influential mouthpieces to convince Western governments to accede to their narratives–see previously
kukla, fran & ollie: a Youtube channel working to conserve and put on-line over seven hundred episodes of the 1950s puppet theatre–via r/ObscureMedia
parlement technologies: the rapper formerly known as Kanye West announces plans to purchase rightwing friendly social media site
la pyramide des saveurs: France’s reigning and unrivaled Queen of Cheeses, Nathalie Quartrehomme
Thursday, 13 October 2022
8x8 (10. 220)
punto di ebollizione: pasta maker introduces ‘passive cooker’ meters

a shropshire lass: four decades of mushrooming in England and Wales
friluftsliv: the term for the Danish tradition of unwinding in the wilds popularised by playwright Henrik Ibsen
perfect for roquefort cheese: all about blue cheeses—see also
yes sirah: origins and production of wine grape varietals around the globe—via tmn
wormsign: building a functional Fremen thumper
hasta la pasta: the Italian influence in Argentinian cuisine
Tuesday, 21 June 2022
6x6
zhaocai: office cats in China face redundancy with startups closing

frisson: a group of neuroscientists compile an extensive playlist of chill-inducing musical tracks
blood sugar sex magik: chants delivered by Aleister Crowley (previously) preserved on a wax cylinder
umwelten: a new volume by Ed Yong explores the “self-centred world” (another Rรผckwanderer) of human and non-human animals
barn cats: felines at work at a creamery in Maine