The causes of the French Revolution are myriad and included financial hardship exacerbated by debts incurred in the proxy war that the country had just finished waging with England via the matter of the United States of America’s push for independence but one important juncture that may have precipitated protests and unrest across the kingdom occurred on this date back in 1788 in the south-eastern city of Grenoble.
Despite poor harvests, taxes were collected a-pace with additional ones levied, and the regional appellate courts (called Parlements) that had jurisdiction over tax regimes were suspended. Referred to as the Day of the Tiles for rioters resorting to showering soldiers with roof shingles, merchants closed their shops up early on Saturday morning, market day, when they saw groups of rioters gather who proceeded to seize local officials as they attempted to flee the city and took control of the cathedral. In response, the royal navy was sent into quell the protests but matters quickly escalated. The riots subsided after four days and led to the reinstatement of the court’s authority and the right to refuse payments on levies not approved by that body, but problems with France and the relation of the monarchy to the people was fraught with systemic irreconcilable complications and the revolution fomented the following year.
Thursday, 7 June 2018
journรฉe des tuiles
writers and the leviathan or duty to warn
At a time when athletes, actors, astronomers and others are told to stick to their day-jobs and not wade into the political fray, many of us expect writers and academics to uphold values and defend truth and justice in trying times. One author, recognised across the partisan spectrum, as the quintessential bellwether who warned lucidly and presciently about the rise of totalitarianism, George Orwell, however, took some exception with this onerous duty, arguing it was the responsibility of every last one of us to stay informed. Culture, in any form, is not impervious to the prevailing political climate.
electronic arts
Market saturation and the introduction of home computers back in 1983 precipitated a crash for the video game industry that unseated the dominance of Atari and the arcade as a third place.
In turn, this disruption informed Nintendo’s rather aggressive campaign of licensing and cross-branding. Some years ago, as Dangerous Minds reminds, Retrovania imagined video game start screens for some of the titles that the company secured the rights to but for one reason or another, failed to pursue. While it’s easy to imagine the rules of play for some of the company’s tie-ins, it’s a fun challenge to puzzle out how one might have engaged others.
Wednesday, 6 June 2018
bakemono zukushi
