amusing ourselves to death (11. 699)

Using the 1985 bestseller by educator Neil Postman, which draws on the dichotomy of the dystopian futures envisioned by George Orwell in 1984 and Aldous Huxley in Brave New World with the public stripped of rights by totalitarian governments in the narrative of the former and people voluntarily self-medicating and foregoing their liberties in an induced and voluntary state of blissful ignorance in the

latter, Boing Boing contributor Mark Frauenfelder presents an analysis of this dilution, delusion of news, culture and politics repackaged as commodities in our present forms of media, our soma. Presentation and format—“the medium is the metaphor,” see also—makes everything entertainment and a passive and non-critical one at that, written at a time when another celebrity held the office of US president, impressed on the general psyche not in words but in glancing television images and photo opportunities and carefully staged soundbites. Frauenfelder’s excerpts, like the below citation are addressing the fragmentation-effect of network news but accord perfectly with social media as well, TikTok substituted here:

“Now … this” is commonly used on radio and television newscasts to indicate that what one has just heard or seen has no relevance to what one is about to hear or see, or possibly to anything one is ever likely to hear or see. The phrase is a means of acknowledging the fact that the world as mapped by the speeded-up electronic media has no order or meaning and is not to be taken seriously. There is no murder so brutal, no earthquake so devastating, no political blunder so costly—for that matter, no ball score so tantalising or weather report so threatening—that it cannot be erased from our minds by a newscaster saying, “Now … this.” The newscaster means that you have thought long enough on the previous matter (approximately forty-five seconds), that you must not be morbidly preoccupied with it (let us say, for ninety seconds), and that you must now give your attention to another fragment of news or a commercial.

Much more at the links above.

the unchained goddess (11. 698)

Open Culture directs our attention towards the highlight of the Bell Systems Science Series, nine television specials originally broadcast between 1956 and 1964, with the first four written and produced by award-winning filmmaker Frank Capra (previously), recently having found himself “retired” from Hollywood due to being blacklisted as a communist sympathiser over his body of work (previously here and here)—despite being holding rather conservative political views himself, with the AT&T sponsored commissions being viewed in retrospect as a quiet means of rehabilitating his image and reputation, with the 1958 examination of weather. Though somewhat less well received by critics and audiences than Capra’s previous three instalments (perhaps the topic considered too pedestrian in comparison with the others on the circulatory system, the sun and cosmic rays), The Unchained Goddess is indelible and enduring with a prescient message about the effects of Anthropogenic climate change and the cascade of the warming atmosphere and sea-level rise. Much more at the links above.

* * * * *

synchronoptica

one year ago: photos of the Anthropocene (with synchronoptica) plus a continued blockade on Ukrainian grain shipments

seven years ago: swimsuit models, Voltaire’s science-fiction, the premiere of SpongeBob plus the Golden Submarine

nine years ago: assorted links to revisit plus Merkel’s immigration policies under scrutiny

twelve years ago: climate change and too much water plus a branded look for US Commanders in Chief

fourteen years ago: a trip to the Baltic coast

only the lonely (11. 697)

A part-talkie (with mixed audio-dialogue, sound-effects and score plus intertitles), Public Domain Review presents Paul Fejős’ 1928 Lonesome, exploring the subject through following the lives of two working-class New York City urbanites apart and together over the course of a single July day, the telephone operator and factory worker get a break from their drudgery, met and have a splendid time at a funfair but are separated by a sudden downpour and regret loosing each other only to later discover that they’ve been neighbours in the same apartment block all along. The featurette, considered a masterpiece, has the narrative of an O Henry story and many innovations in terms of cinematography including fast-motion, superimposition, split screens and a roller-coaster mounted camera.

⚶ (11. 696)

Observed between 1802 and 1807 before being identified as a minor planet by astronomer Heinrich Olbers, whom having already discovered and named what is now understood to be the asteroid Pallas gave the honours to mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, whose orbital calculations had enabled researchers to confirm the existence of the first such object in that region of the solar system, Ceres, presumed—incorrectly—to be fragments of a larger, destroyed planet, and called the discovery after the Roman goddess of hearth and home, Vesta. The Dawn mission, dispatched to explore the asteroid belt, entered into a year-long orbit around the brightest and second-largest asteroid on this day in 2011. Presently represented by the modern astrological variant of the original symbol conceived by Gauss, it was suggestive of the altar of the goddess and home-fire by extension, the first form is scheduled to return as a Unicode character, the pictorial representations repopularised following their retirement in the mid-1800s as impractical as the cosmic backyard became more crowded with eight major planets and over a dozen minor ones. During the interim until the 1950s, asteroids were given the naming convention of ordinal numbers, according to the sequence of their discovery, this one called ④ Vesta.

synchronoptica

one year ago: professional uniforms (with synchronoptica), an experimental overland train plus the Trinity nuclear test (1945)

seven years ago: a linguistic curiosity

eight years ago: a beach on the Île d’Orélon

nine years ago: classes of quarks plus a Mad, Mad, Mad Max mashup

eleven years ago: informant gadgets 

trump-vance (11. 695)

Author and jurist turned politician and once among the ex-president’s staunchest and vocal critics, a Never-Trumper, within the party since transformed into an apologist for some of Trump’s most authoritarian aspirations and cheerleader for his style of populism, Ohio senator JD Vance was picked as Trump’s running mate, announced during the first night of the Republican National Conference held in Milwaukee, less than forty-eight hours after the assassination attempt on the GOP presumptive candidate. Vance blamed the political violence on the rhetoric of Biden and “legacy” media who characterise Trump as a dangerous autocrat that threatens democracy. Vance’s platform is aligned lock-step with Trump’s, and arguably the world-vision of this political heir and protege might be a darker one.

9x9 (11. 694)

fungal magic: an update on the mushroom documentary narrated by Björk  

always lands on its feet: the myriad ways animals negotiate the laws of physics—see also  

meisje met de parel: decoding Vermeer’s true colours—see previously—via Miss Cellania 

i’m your heat pump: a seductive slow jam seems to educate the public on the thermal energy transmission system 

eno: the generative documentary on the self-described non-musician that changes with each viewing  

legal daisy spacing: a purported 1985 manual for terraforming a planet that presents a warped bureaucracy and sterile landscaping  

nolle prosequi: federal judge overseeing illegal retention of classified documents trial against Trump dismissed the indictment over the improper appointment of the prosecution’s special counsel—see previously here and here  

reimann hypothesis: new insights about the distribution of prime numbers—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links  

kräuterbuch: Johannes Hartlieb’s fifteenth century treasury of herbs

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica), Netscape plus the Rosetta Stone

seven years ago: dark matter, more on the election integrity commission plus the bicentennial of Frankenstein

nine years ago: thalassocracies, plutographies plus more links to enjoy 

eleven years ago: a slightly NSFW Soviet adult literacy reader

twelve years ago: the German banking system plus the Oberammergau Passion Plays

8x8 (11. 693)

priscila, queen of the rideshare mafia: the tale of a gig-economy pyramid scheme  

fête nationale: a comprehensive list of what Americans and the French know about each other 

80s lifestyle icons: health and fitness guru Richard Simmons and sex therapist Dr Ruth Westheimer pass away  

stillsuits: researchers develop Fremen inspired garments for astronauts that improve comfort, hydration and hygiene  

my israel home: US real estate companies profiting off expanded, illegal settlements in the West Bank—see also 

paranormal phenomenon: Japanese terms for déjà vu, telepathy and incredulous serendipity 

🛒: the trend of grocery store tourism really resonates with us and a cultural experience we always are sure to have—via Nag on the Lake 

kein brot und keine ehre: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg’s correspondent’s categories of human endeavour

no responsive documents (11. 692)

Our friends at Muckrock (previously) have successfully through a FOIA petition to the US National Security Agency to locate a historic lecture delivered by computing pioneer Admiral Grace Hopper, authoring COBOL as a demonstration of a machine independent high-level programming language, at the intelligence agency’s Fort Meade headquarters. The NSA, however, is refusing to release the 1982 recording from its archives, preserved on an AMPEX video tape reel, because it has no equipment capable of making a copy. Although not an unsolvable problem, particularly for one of the most powerful and well-connected spy agencies in the world, and the Freedom of Information Action cannot require the records-holding entity to obtain hardware to access outdated file formats, it does speak to the problems of obsolete technology and our coming digital dark ages.

the great white way (11. 691)

Via the New Shelton wet/dry, we are directed towards an interesting biography of the individual, coining the above nickname for Broadway in 1901 due to its dazzling electric lights, responsible for the spectacle of Times Square, OJ Gude. Taking advantage of the accident of civil planning that had created a bowtie-shape with the intersections of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue that was an ideal amphitheatre for showcasing the energy and dynamism of commerce and advertising, Gude designed many of the flashing, animated billboards that fill the skyline. This theatre-in-the-round upstaging the playhouse-district put the show on the periphery for a captive audience of consumers, who couldn’t ignore the advertisers’ messages, was a bit of promotional genius, the tradition upheld for over a century, with Gude’s salesmanship directly behind many of the iconic and colossal displays. More at the links above.

shelly’s leg (11. 690)

For Bastille Day 1970, Seattle’s gastronomical scene arranged a dinner party and parade to showcase their establishments, and a freak accident involving an antique cannon loaded with confetti, which during the route had dipped from its skyward trajectory and fired into the crowd resulted in the establishment of the city’s first disco—we learn via the New Shelton wet/dry an all inclusive space—yielding a triumph, fabulous but short-lived and returning to tragedy, from this mishap.

Among the spectators was one Shelly Bauman, whom at close range sustained life-threatening injuries from the festive munitions and the eponymous (in the tradition of taverns of olde) leg had to be amputated. Confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, Bauman sued the municipality and event-planners for a settlement of several hundred thousand dollars and eventually used this as seed money to purchase a former hotel and turn it into a rather fabulous club scene and outreach centre, no expense spared and unapologetically gay, running from 1973 to 1977. Read more at the links above. 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Talking Heads’ second album (with synchronoptica), molecule of the month, social summaries plus misquoting Marie Antoinette

seven years ago: Trump in Paris, personality quizzes plus the composite photographs of Fong Qi Wei

eight years ago: but let us return to our sheep at hand

nine years ago: wiping out the buffalo, assorted links to revisit plus the Greek economic crisis

eleven years ago: making banking scary again plus a visit to Bad Homburg

connoquenessing township (11. 689)

During a campaign rally held at a parade ground near Butler, Pennsylvania, a would-be assassin perched on a rooftop outside the heavily secured (the fifty thousand attendees were subject to a screening process for weapons and other prohibited items in a queue that lasted up to five hours prior to the event) venue shot at the dais and grazed candidate Trump’s right ear, killing one by-stander and critically injuring two others. Secret service agents killed the shooter. Trump, discharged from a nearby hospital, proceeded to his next rally in New Jersey and reiterated that the Republican National Convention will begin as scheduled next week, to formally nominate him for the GOP ballot.  Despite Trump’s openness and advocacy for extraordinary measures, the international community is condemning political violence.

doppeldecker-treffen (11. 688)

 Going to the next village from home, Hermannsfeld, we saw a little airshow in the fields that was a reunion of sorts for a certain model of biplanes from all over Germany, the sports-craft built from kits (every one unique) and named Kiebitze after the lapwing (peewit, Vanellus vanellus) as the wings are designed to fold up, like the birds, for easy transportation and can be towed by a car. We got to see quite a few take-offs and landings and some aerial acrobatics.

 

women on the waves (11.687)

The Dutch NGO founded in 1999 by Dr Rebecca Gomperts has the mission of bringing reproductive health services, education and outreach to women in countries with restrictive abortion laws, with services rendered on board a specially-made ship, which boards women at a pre-arranged port-of-call and sails out to international waters, where Dutch law is in effect. Unsafe abortions administered in countries whose laws provide no other alternative are a leading cause of maternal death and the organisation seeks to champion universal reproductive autonomy. Earlier ship’s doctor on the Rainbow Warrior II, Gommperts and crew of medical professionals have visited Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Guatemala and México—all countries that have since significantly expanded abortion access, and a spin-off programme, Women on the Web, helps women with self-managed medical abortions with the drug combination mifepristone and misoprostol.

beaumont slope (11. 686)

In anticipation of eventual ratification of the 1994 UN treaty, the Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, see more), the United States quietly staked claim last month to its extended continental shelf in the Arctic so were it to become a signatory, it would be joining on its own terms with boundaries already delineated. The move did not go unnoticed as other member nations have also tried to assert, under the treaty, their own territorial reaches in the far north and the American declaration of what’s theirs by dint of geological affiliation, an area of the seabed the size of California which overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of Canada, Norway, Denmark and Russia, rather than political flag-planting and is seen as contentious and a sign of continued American exceptionalism, manifest destiny flouting customary and international law. More from Radio Free Europe at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the search for past life on Mars (with synchronoptica) plus the Hollywood sign (1923)

seven years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus a million dollar heist

eight years ago: camping in Metz 

nine years ago: missing the Dalai Lama plus the Bechdel Test

eleven years ago: a furlough for US federal workers, psychiatry and sainthood plus a choreographed panopticon

blowed ‘em up reeeeeal goooood (11. 685)

As our faith chronicler reminds, one this night in 1979, the US baseball team the Chicago White Sox playing in their home stadium of Comiskey Park against the Detroit Tigers, held as a promotional event to attract flagging fans during a poor season Disco Demolition Night—previously. In exchange for bringing a record that they wanted to see destroyed, the audience was extended a discounted admission of ninety-eight cents—a reference to the frequency of some popular local radio stations seen as betraying their rock credentials and base by playing the now mainstreamed genre, the host team engaging local shock-jock and fervent anti-disco advocate Steve Dahl to capitalise on the polarising matter of taste in music, with disco’s normalisation to the point of saturation seen by some as degenerate and rooted in gay culture—for frigid women and effeminate men and minorities, whose activism had already stoked riots. With more individuals coming to see the spectacle rather than the game during a pause in play, DJ Dahl collected the albums in a crate and detonated it on the field. Due to damage to the outfield by the explosion and an ensuing onslaught of rowdy fans, the White Sox were made to forfeit the game for the damage to the Tigers. Though already on the decline, disco’s growing unpopularity coincided with this biblioclasm, with artists and labels rebranding it as dance music and many stations returning to a rock format.

7x7 (11. 684)

fernwood 2 night: Martin Mull (RIP) interviews Tom Waits on first talk show satire  

dead heat: polls indicate that the US presidential race is virtually tied, unchanged after the debate performance 

alberta bound: the Great Canadian Song Map—via Web Curios  

tropic of cancer: some of the US falls outside of NATO’s geographic scope—see also  

moved permanently: North American telephone area codes that are also HTTP response headers—see previously—via Kottke  

shelley’s heart: Charles McCarry’s eerily prescient 1995 political thriller  

now benson, i’m going to have to turn you into a dog for a while: Taika Waititi is serialising Terry Gilliams’s 1981 Time Bandits for television

postpositive (11. 683)

Via TYWKIWDBI (indeed), we are brought back to the subject of forming the plural of compound expressions through what are also referred to as post-nominal adjectives, which in English syntax can be employed for subtly and nuance—asking to be directed to the responsible people versus the people responsible or adjacent to something versus something adjacent—and occur in a number of set and archaic phrases, usually derived from Latin and French, like midnight dreary, body politic, proof positive, and the legal term malice aforethought (premeditated, from malice prépensée).

 synchronoptica

one year ago: a marker to symbolise the start of the Anthropocene Epoch (with synchronoptica), a crowd-pirated movie plus assorted links to revisit

seven years ago: LeVar Burton Reads, open-pollination, THC regulations in the EU, a typeface combining Hebrew and Arabic plus Trump as Putin’s useful idiot

nine years ago: exploring Pluto and beyond

i’m in this to complete the job i started (11. 682)

At the conclusion of the NATO summit, held on the trans-Atlantic organisation’s seventy-fifth anniversary—overshadowed to an extent publicly and privately by speculation about the host’s health and ability to
retain high office and counter-measures to Trump-proof the alliance which detracted from business at hand including including containment of Russia and China and Ukraine’s membership question, a defiant Joe Biden participated in a rare solo press-conference, re-affirming his commitment to remaining in the presidential race, not for his own legacy, but for America and to beat his opponent. This crucial and closely scrutinised event was a strong showing, despite some gaffes including referring to Harris as vice-president Trump and Zelenskyy as Putin (Macron and Scholtz were quick to defend Biden’s address saying one could always detect such slips of the tongue with such close monitoring, and probably would not have elicited gasps from the audience were it not for the poor debate performance that intensified calls for him to bow out from his party’s nomination) but may not convince his supporters or quiet the chaos within the party.

splogoverse (11. 681)

Having previously tracked how that the zombification of dormant domains followed the cannibalisation of the oldweb and general enshittification as squats for AI-generated slop, we gave a close reading to this account involving the purchase of a long-abandoned URL of a mainly print newsletter that once hosted their contributions in order to spare their by-line from the indignity visited upon many legacy websites, coopted by prolific impostors for name-recognition (like Red Lobster being private-equitied). Like the above cannibalisation—which seems rather tame in comparison—archived content (which may be also hosted in parallel by a successor publisher) is lightly edited and updated to make it appear fresh and relevant, at least to search engines and advertisers. More from Tedium at the link above.

double-click (11. 680)

Language Log presents an interesting discussion on the latest polarising and overused corporate buzz-word in double-click—as in to focus or drill-down on some matter, which admittedly didn’t at first blush register as a term I’ve heard employed inside or outside the office but then realise that I might just have a blindspot for such phrases—moreover leading to see how quickly technological neologisms are adopted and have staying power, like way English has a whole is peppered with rather fossilised sports metaphors that can have an othering effect for non-native-speakers. Offline (as in a sidebar discussion) and bandwidth (mental capacity) have become pervasive and we use this jargon without noticing it. The article also includes an interview with the inventor of the rapid tap mousing, engineer Bill Atkinson who conceived it for Apple’s Lisa Project back in 1979, who would eschew such talk—buzzwords quickly lose their buzz—and has some regrets about the gesture he designed, thinking that a shift key for computer mice might be more ergonomic and user-friendly.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: military weather modification programmes (with synchronoptica), The Specials plus assorted links to revisit

seven years ago: May’s Little England, more model villages and company towns plus a capital ß

nine years ago: the collective amnesia of nationhood plus imagining parallel ecosystems

ten years ago: off to Croatia

eleven years ago: graffiti terminology, images of borders plus a spyware roundup

surréalisme (11. 679)

In anticipation of the centenary of the publication of the rival manifestos of opposing factions of the art movement in October of 1924 by Yvan Goll and André Breton, we learn via PRINT magazine that there’s been a call for submissions to reinterpret modern corporate logos in the style of the multidisciplinary group following arising from the liminal space between full awareness and the subconscious (see also),
all emergent after the horrors of the Great War, the 1918 Pandemic and the popular psychiatry of Sigmund Freud. We especially liked the Magritte-inspired reimaging of the Youtube brand with reference to Salvador Dalí and the Belgian artist’s own 1929 “False Mirror,” Le faux miroir, which was also the inspiration for the American television network CBS eye logo.  Much more at the links above.

gallery of the louvre (11. 678)

On the occasion of the record-setting auction in which the pictured painting fetched an incredible three-and-a-quarter million dollars on this day back in 1982 (going to a private collector but on public display), we take a look at the artist, better remembered for his contributions to telecommunications, Samuel Finley Breese Morse. 

First establishing his credentials at a portrait artist and having a success career, several US presidents sat for him, Morse turned to invention in his late forties after encountering a fellow-passenger on a steam ship back from Europe who taught him about electromagnetism and demonstrated some experiments for him. Setting aside the subject painting in 1832 (finished the following year and contains thirty-eight miniature versions of the museum’s treasures—see also), Morse developed a single-wire telegraph, improving on European systems, and overcame the problem of signal-strength and range, a limiting factor, by the addition of relays to boost the distance transmissions could be carried from a few yards to dozens of miles. Patents were awarded but Morse’s invention was not unique or as foundational (see previously here and here) as he liked to present it. Adopted as the international standard for telegraphy, Morse would go on to contribute to his eponymous Code a few years later.  The first public demonstration was held at a steelworks in Morristown, New Jersey with an electronic missive—rather cryptically the message was “A patient waiter is no loser,” sent to a factory two miles away. 

stripware (11. 677)

Via Waxy, we enjoyed this look back at the briefly popular method of scanning code from paper from Cauzin Softstrip. A precursor to the modern QR-Code, programmes were printed in bands, highly compressed so encoding wouldn’t take up too much real estate in the periodicals that carried them (see also), most distributing computer games, like this early version of Minesweeper, Othello, Checks, Free Ski, etc. The scanning wand itself was about the size of a baguette and didn’t always produce the right output—and the games themselves in retrospect didn’t quite deliver in terms of play, though the cover art, illustrations and gaming manuals (plus a little imagination) completed the experience. More from Ironic Sans (previously) at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago:Django Reinhardt’s jazz band (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: more links to enjoy

nine years ago: even more links to revisit

ten years ago: the linocuts of Edward Bawden

eleven years ago: more public outrage over mass-surveillance 

in the year twenty-twenty-five (11. 676)

By inference, example and declaration, the American people and the world has been warned repeatedly, relentlessly of what a second Trump term would entail, a conservative agenda of policy proposals that failed to coalesce on the first attempt radically transforming the republic into a regressive evangelical hypocracybased on the rule of tribal grievance and restoring the patriarchy. With the express aim of purging what’s characterised as “woke propaganda” in regulation and curriculum under a Trump regime, emboldened and enabled, the administration not only is plotting to gut the administrative state under a unitary executive with autocratic powers, eliminate environmental regulation (framing global warming as a hoax), consumer safety, civil liberties and protections (framing affirmative action and equality as “reverse racism”), mass deportations, stripping of citizenship, abortion access, pornography as well as no-fault divorce—essentially rolling back the hard-fought progress of the past seventy years and this all, with the extensive blueprint pre-positioned, might happen on day one.

städtebilder (11. 675)

Via the always wunderbar Nag on the Lake, we are referred to this lovely montage of West Berlin on a nice summer’s day in 1977 (see more, see also), composed of rediscovered vintage, full-colour footage (including aerial sweeps and shots) with a catchy, jaunty soundtrack presented by Chronos Media, the country’s largest, independent private archives—with more documentaries about Germany and several other historical, nostalgic city portraits at their Youtube page.

your good and your evil use the same methods, achieve the same results (11. 674)

Bob Canada presents a highlight reel of some of the more bizarre images that the crew of the Enterprise saw on the ship’s viewscreen during the course of the original run of Star Trek: TOS, with their encounter with Space Lincoln in “The Savage Curtain” (S3:E22) with the super-intelligent rock-like Excliaban having created the presidential look-alike (along with a facsimile of the renowned Vulcan philosopher Surak) to better explore the concepts of good and evil, pitting these two upstanding figures against a cast of villains, including Genghis Khan and Klingon warlord Kahless with Kirk and Spock as seconds in the duel. Despite knowing that the great statesman is an artifice of matter-energy conversion, the Captain accords his personal hero with full honours upon boarding the ship.

synchronoptica

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

seven years ago: neutral facial posture plus the fall of Constantinople

eight years ago: Stephen Hawking’s stalker plus a short hiatus

nine years ago: absquatulate, cartoon tropes plus Freedomland, USA

ten years ago: peace vigils in Germany

olive branch petition (11. 673)

Signed following adoption by the Second Continental Congress on this day in 1775 after, formal request was last ditch effort to avoid open conflict between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies. The fact that the same group of delegates had just authorised the invasion of the Dominion of Canada and passage of the resolution titled the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms over the perception of parliament extending its influence across the Atlantic rather made its favourable reception unlikely despite its pledge of fealty to George III—the king refusing to read it and declaring the colonists traitorous. Interpreted as intransigence on the part of the British government—the signature page along with the rest of the missive in the US National archives features the prominent signature of John Hancock—it’s ignored read-receipt helped limn the choice for American settlers, entrenching a litany of grievances, and legitimising rebellion, informing Thomas Payne’s Common Sense. You say—the price of my love’s not a price that you’re willing to pay, you cry in your tea which hurl in the see when you see me go by. Why so sad?

shoestring budget (11. 672)

Via Miss Cellania, we are afforded a quite fascinating look at the 1948 London Games, the first Olympics held after Munich’s 1936 event and the marking their post-war resumption, which compared to the current expense and corporate sponsorship is not only remarkable for the level of thrift and resourcefulness—a make do and mend attitude with athletes stitching together their own uniforms and college campuses and military bases acting as the Olympic Village—but also how the spectacle was pulled off in the name of international sportsmanship and provided much needed relief with the fighting in fresh memory and rationing and austerity continuing for many.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: half the world in the sun (with synchronoptica)

eight years ago: proxemics plus machine mirages

nine years ago: a maths sleight of hand plus ghost malls and the Gruen Transfer

ten years ago: border security, home and abroad

eleven years ago: US-EU trade disputes

sondages de sortie (11. 671)

In a rather shockingly positive development, and despite a worrying fraught showing in the first round of voting, which however suggests that Macron made the correct tactical decision in calling for a snap election in the aftermath of the EU parliamentary run-offs which made his party’s mandate to govern seem to wither, France’s progressive alliance has kept the ascendant nationalist and far-right Rassemblement National at bay and beaten them back into third place overall and unable to secure a controlling majority. Though a triumph for democracy, the future composition of the French government however is far from clear as no single party has the seats to function outside of a collation and has a hung parliament (parlement suspendu).

de arte natandi (11. 670)

Via tmn, we are directed towards a survey of aquatic skills and refinements classically considered as a mark of functional literacy on par with being un-lettered by Plato as a sign of miseducation with the entrée of a water ballet performed by Benjamin Franklin in early summer of 1726 on the Thames, bucking the contemporary mindset that despite maritime adventuring that staying afloat was somehow taboo for a man overboard. Without managing to change conventional education, Cambridge theologian and avid swimmer Everard Digby (better known as a conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot) had propagated the embrace of swimming and lifeguarding in his late fifteen-hundreds treatise, though either centuries ahead of or millennia behind the times, as thermæ we condemned by Christian society, whether for healing, hygienic or hedonistic purposes, and was something to shun and fear with even buoyancy enough to earn the judgment of witchcraft.

kinesigraph (11. 669)

Public Domain Review contributor Irfan Shah revives the forgotten figure of Wordsworth Donisthorpe of Leeds—inventor, chess enthusiast, anarchist, linguist, social reformer and unrecognised pioneer of cinematography, only to fall behind the competition in Louis Le Prince and Thomas Edison. Though Donisthorpe’s career is punctuated with lamentable near successes and frustrating failures—which saw him turn to blackmail on more than one occasion but that did not produce a favourable outcome either—except as a posthumous postscript that connects Donisthrope, through his social outreach, to one of the early icons of the silver screen. Read more about the Kinesigraph patent, free love and his Latinate language reform attempts at the link up top.

7x7 (11. 668)

zungenbrecher: revisiting the topic of German tongue-twisters whose recitation challenges are also trending on the socials—via Language Hat  

nuts and bolts: hyperrealistic pencil-drawings of metallic objects by Kohei Ohmori  

heraclea sintica: a near-complete statue of Hermes discovered whilst excavating a Roman sewer in southwest Bulgaria 

murder by contract: Poseidon’s Underworld reviews the 1958, low-budget Vince Edwards vehicle  

ovocipede: a personal mobility vehicle conceived by Salvador Dalí  

game over: a stop-motion animation re-creates classic arcade game play with food and candy  

dawn chorus: explore morning birdsong from around the globe—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links (lots more to see there)

synchronoptica

one year ago: the first summer study abroad programme (plus synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: Trump and the press, more on still-lives plus superlative drone photography

eight years ago: the Iraq Inquiry

nine years ago: the taxonomy of Jorge Luis Borge plus assorted links to revisit

ten years ago: advertising hoardings that serve as shelters plus ISIS’ wanton destruction of cultural treasure

light as a feather (11. 667)

Going into general release in the USA on this day in 1994, admittedly I never watched the Robert Zemeckis adaptation of the Winston Groom novel that follows the life of the protagonist photobombing pivotal events of the twentieth century and recalling his story ignorant of their significance but never skipped it out of any ideological reason that I was aware of but rather that I missed the moment and it was already part of the Zeitgeist and could surmise, intuit it by enough popular references. I never appreciated however that the film was part of the ongoing values debate in America and limns a contentious divide for those who interpret the melodrama about being present as either a nostalgic glamorisation of conservative (and counter- counter-cultural) credentials or as a sweet as a box of chocolates but glib reduction of the most consequent decades of the mid-twentieth century.

,,someone german is talking“ (11. 666)

Having pondered the meanings and styles of bracket-use before, we appreciated this xkcd (previously) comic panel via Language Log. What other orthographic conventions do you know? 『Someone is talking Chinese』— A James Joyce [or Leo Tolstoi] character is talking. — ,, A Georgian person is talking” >A Usenet user is talking " ⠦A vision impaired individual is talking⠴ [sic] A pedant is talking [recte]