ambrosia (11. 730)

The Olympic Committee issued an apology for a tableau during the Paris Olympic’s opening ceremonies that some claimed was deeply offensive to Christian communities and blasphemous—notably the shrillest outrage from US conservatives—for depicting The Last Supper with drag queens. Except it was not inspired by Da Vinci’s depiction of Jesus and his apostles, as the spectacle’s director explained—though few could hear it over the social media torrent—and the performance had to be regrettably recanted, but rather by Le Festin des Dieux, a seventeenth century work by painter Jan van Bijlert prominently displayed in the national gallery in Dijon. While the Dutch artist himself was referencing Leonardo’s earlier work and one sees what one wants to see, the mythology figures are patently recognisable, including Apollo, Pan, Mars, Minerva and Dionysus, the father of the Gallo-Roman goddess Sequana (and whose totem spirit, familiars are ducks), the deification of the Seine, sourced in Côte-d’Or is not far from Dijon.

and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom (11. 729)

In more meme news, the presumptive Democratic nominee made a surprise showing during the conclusion of the San Diego Comic-Con panel on The Simpsons, reciting a slogan from the Treehouse of Horror VII special from 1996, the short Citizen Kang, about the recurring alien characters interfering in the then upcoming contest between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, eventually replacing the candidates with themselves. While unclear if Harris endorsed this message specifically for the weekend’s forum—or if it was an older clip that a group of political science students arranged when tasked with getting a politician to make a statement about America’s two-party system (see above), her appearance nonetheless energised the crowd. A self-described superfan of the long running show—and maybe this fellow GenXer also pretends it ended circa 1997 instead of entering its thirty-sixth season, which is probably the best approach—Harris’ other solid Simpsons association comes from the 2000 episode Bart to the Future, wherein a similarly dressed Lisa succeeds Donald Trump as US president—which seems a bit more prescient than it was, Trump having been a serial candidate before finally securing the Republican party’s nomination in 2016.

ad copy (11. 728)

Via Web Curios, we enjoyed perusing this gallery of mostly—but not exclusively—vintage Anglophone print advertisements that make the exception to the curator’s collection entitled, “Nobody Reads Ads” from Miguel Ferreira, who writes a lot about commericals and creativity. There are some really effective and arresting ones, though not the ones that everyone remembers as indisputable examples, that are lost in the data of engagement and targeting and each demonstrates a subtle hook to an audience that is not exactly self-selecting. What are some of your favourites or ones you think have been overlooked and should be included?  Much more at the links above.

couch gag (11. 727)

In some strange conflation between Trump’s running-mate, Trump’s supreme court pick Brett Kavanaugh and the Mandala effect for the spectrum of possible things that’s allowing the memes of production to take over, the episode was not recorded in JD Vance’s memoir and the whole thing was a joke, but the temporary virality revealed some ever weirder hang-ups and proclivities which are on the record. Vance in a 2021 bemoaned how the Democratic party was led by “a bunch if childless cat ladies who are miserable with their own lives,” specifically naming Kalama Harris, Pete Buttigieg (his prospective challengers) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, rehashing the interview’s soundbite with the argument that childless people are unfit to govern because they have no stake in the future. Other classic talking-points have emerged regarding what Vance—including universal childcare—as a threat to traditional families.

synchronoptica

one year ago: St Martha of Bethany (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: Xerox wants you to stop genericising its brand

eight years ago: a millennium of food and drink in art, a dog train, punctuation in road signage plus an artificial leaf

nine years ago: nature vs nurture plus assorted links worth revisiting

ten years ago: the monuments of Croatia

bright lights city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire (11. 726)

Via friend of the blog, the marvellous Nag on the Lake, we learn about the origins of the classic Elvis Presley officiated wedding tradition—sourced to the time that The King and Priscilla visited a beautiful sanctuary in Las Vegas, and though declining the venue over the lack of room for the planned guest list, Presley gave his blessing, subject to later disputes disputes by his estate and record label over copycat ceremonies but now apparently litigation has relented in order to uphold the tradition, to rebrand the little chapel as Graceland, spawning the destination matrimony up and down the Strip and much further afield. We did not realise, however, despite our upbringing in Texarkana replete with local lore ranging from literary and musical mentions Ross Perot, Scott Joplin and ragtime plus a historically prosperous Black centre of commerce that was devastated Tulsa-style, that the first recorded professional impersonator hailed from the Arkansas-side in the figure of one Carl “Cheesie” Nelson who had a special knack for impersonation and was even invited to perform alongside the genuine article once in Memphis in 1954. Topical singer Philip Ochs first made parodies of Elvis’ discography into protest anthems in the late 1960s, well ahead of the artist’s death and joining a long line of enthusiasts of varying talent. Much more at the links above.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: sculptor Vinne Ream (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: an archive of daily internet snapshots from a decade ago, never wear green on television plus Japan’s Good Design Awards

eight years ago: Bexell’s Talking Stones, a look at the backlash to women’s voting rights plus tubular floating bridges for Norway

ten years ago: a NATO doomsday bunker plus more adventures in Croatia

eleven years ago: copycat blockbusters, German weather plus a visit to Gelnhausen

dioecesis selenis (11. 725)

Delving the depths of Wikipedia, we learn via Neatorama that the bishop of the diocese of Orlando, Florida established in 1968, citing the 1917 Code of Canon Law (Iuris Codex Canonici) which extended pastoral jurisdiction over newly discovered territories to the episcopal authority of the diocese from which the expedition was launched, claimed the Moon in the name of the Church, his appointment coinciding with the Apollo missions to the lunar surface. With a counter-claimant in the archbishop of New York as vicar of the Military Ordinariate as chaplain to all military bases, including Cape Canaveral, the matter was never resolved as it was ultimately a papal decision and Pope Paul VI was bemused by the question, not issuing an official response.

my beautiful christians (11. 724)

Just after reneging on his commitment for a second debate as his sparring partner is more formidable and has the power for a real dressing down—whist sexist and racist attacks by surrogates on Harris increase, Trump held a rally near Mar-a-Lago

unabashedly promoting theocracy and an end to representative democracy. Imploring the crowd to mobilise just this once, Trump said, “You have to get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four years, it will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore.. In four years, you won’t have to vote again.” Incoherent and meandering at times, the speech reiterated in no uncertain terms how the regime has no intentions of conceding or being bound by law or norms.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the Indian diamond-bourse’s new headquarters (with synchronoptica) plus destination-specific travel disorders

seven years ago: animations by Frédéric Vayssouze-Faure, actor Bryan Cranston, Trump’s policy platform plus more on the custom cars of George Barris

eight years ago: a practise environment for Martian colonisation, Wikipedia’s photo competitions, manhole print tee-shirts plus more on terror attacks across Europe

nine years ago: naturally occurring nuclear fission

ten years ago: further adventures in Croatia

pont d‘austerlitz (11. 723)

Overcoming the chaos of an arson attack that sabotaged rail transport into the city and a downpour of driven rain—and a few skeptics who believed the four-hour long spectacle that spanned six kilometers along the Seine with thousands of performers was too ambitious, Paris pulled off the Games’ opening ceremonies with excitement and fanfare and kitsch that embraced and celebrated gentle French stereotypes, poking fun at themselves.

The rooftop dancing and roving torch-bearer combined with the flotilla of boats carrying the national teams down the river, along with the individual numbers, were quite impressive.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Peter Gabriel (with synchronoptica), art appreciation with the Flop House plus RIP Sinéad O’Connor

seven years ago: AI scours Street View for aesthetic photographs,  assorted links worth revisiting plus Soviet election interference

eight years ago: gumption and the complacent class,  feline delusions, artist Victor Vaserely plus Russian election interference

nine years ago: TTIP negotiations plus stress and emotional capacity

ten years ago: ephemeral social media, Croatia Week, Croatia’s founding, tiki couture plus Croatia’s natural wonders

9x9 (11. 722)

circumlocution: a useful synonym for circular logic  

we choose freedom: Kamala Harris’ first campaign advertisement reclaims the Trump GOP’s “so much freedom”  

hitchcock presents: the director’s cameos over five decades  

homobone: why an impact with our humerus hurts so much and is not so funny  

art but make it sports: finding classic analogues in modern day competitions  

forget it jake—it’s chinatown: the reason behind the common aesthetic dating back to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake—via Card House  

in memoriam: a mid-year obituary of those celebrities we have lost  

ε ind ɑ: JWST directly observes an massive exoplanet a dozen light years away but shouldn’t be where it is  

multum in parvo: the Flemish Academy concocted Snelpaardelooszonderspoorwegpetrolrijtuig for horseless-carriage for those who had never encountered one

arcus constantini (11. 721)

Opened to the public on this day in 315 and spanning Rome’s Via Triumphalis amid the decennalia, a series of festivities and games held every decade since 27 BC when Augustus declined the offer of supreme power for life but would accept it for a decade—a tradition upheld by later, non-term-limited emperors to solemnise (they would symbolically relinquish imperium only to have it foisted back on them by popular acclaim) the sacrifice of their predecessor, the Arch of Constantine was dedicated by the Senate to celebrate the the tenth year of his reign and his victory over the forces of Maxentius during the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, ending the civil wars of the terarchy, power disputes among the co-emperors. 

The decorations and the frieze, recounting Constantine’s exploits, along the crowning entablature and colossal proportions make the fourth century archway one of the most iconic examples of the architecture of late Antiquity, but there is some scholarly controversy on its actual builder and purpose, some suggesting it was the vanquished Maxentius who began its construction, his imprimatur erased by damnatio memoriae, particularly since as the emperor was by then more interested in founding his new capital in the East, Constantinople, rather than erecting public buildings in a declining Rome.

synchronoptica

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

seven years ago: the French comic that heavily influenced Star Wars, domestic double-agents plus the heart of man

eight years ago: alchemist Paracelsus plus the châteaux of the Loire

nine years ago: more links to enjoy

eleven years ago: a mystery ranging leaflet 

united states v richard milhous nixon, president of the united states, et al (11. 720)

On this day in 1974, the US supreme court issued a unanimous order to the seated incumbent to surrender tape recordings and other subpoenaed material related to the Watergate scandal to the federal district court for the district of Columbia, amidst the continuing impeachment trial for his part in the affair begun two years prior. In April, Nixon had furnished edited transcripts in hopes that the concession would satisfy the prosecution and the public, to which the Attorney General responded: “The President wants me to argue that he is as powerful a monarch as Louis XIV, only four years at a time, and is not subject to the processes of any court in the land except the court of impeachment.” Arguing that the president should not be subject to “judicial resolution” as a concern of the executive branch, the appeals of the president’s defence team were ultimately rejected, overriding the position that privilege and the doctrine of separation of powers could hinder the process of justice but failing to define its bounds. In lieu of impeachment, Nixon tendered his resignation sixteen days later on 9 August.

topographic map non-linear confidentiality algorithm (11. 719)

Lured by the slightly hyperbolic title Every Map of China is Wrong—with one’s mind going elsewhere to Tibet, Taiwan and maritime trade routes at first, via ibīdem, we are directed to a rather fascinating look at geodesic reference points (see also), international standards and those conventions that are the exception. China’s coordinate system is informed by Global Positioning System and the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency surveys but has inserted an obfuscating formula when it comes to matching satellite telemetry with digital maps and is proprietary (in the name of economic and national security, restricted to a handful of domestic companies which foreign interests must partner with) and cannot be aligned because of the randomness of the algorithm. The drift is especially apparent at border regions and for those travelling between Macau, Hong Kong and the mainland, as those special administrative regions are on the international standard. Much more at the links above.

ausspioniern (11. 718)

Via Quantum of Sollazzo, we are referred to a fascinating joint investigation from Bayerischer Rundfunk and Netzpolitik (EN/DE) on how location data (see previously) jeopardises security, with brokers amassing people’s a litany of details about daily routines and selling (or giving them away) on line, making the matter of triangulating anonymised information a rather disturbingly easy process for the team of journalists to prise into the private lives of others and handily identify spies or others affiliated with the intelligence and defence communities by following their trails of digital breadcrumbs from office to home.

big chris, little chris (11. 717)

Venerated on this day in German-speaking dioceses (the following day on the General Roman Calendar of the Saints) on the occasion of his martyrdom in 251 in Anatolia, the Canaanite of legendary stature, imposing and standing at five cubits (2,3 metres), called Reprobus (reprobate and also by some accounts and portrayals, dog-headed due to a misunderstanding of the Latin demonym Cananeus for suggesting cynocephaly) was determined to be in service to the greatest king of all, and upon seeing his ruler blessing

himself with the sacrament of the sign of the cross at the mention of Satan and reasoning that the devil able to inspire such trepidation must certainly be more powerful abandoned his post and sought out this master to service. Falling in with a gang of robbers claiming to be in league with the devil, the giant of a man was again disappointed by seeing the leader avoiding Christian iconography and sought out the faith under the guidance of a hermit he had encountered. Responding with prayer and fasting when asked how to best serve Christ, Reprobus answered that would be unable to comply with either of those tasks. The hermit reasoned due his size and strength he could please Christ by helping people ford a treacherous river. One day after many successful and easy crossings, a young boy sought passage with the burden becoming almost too much to bear and the river difficult to trudge across, the rapids becoming leaden around his legs. After the arduous journey, the passenger revealed himself to be Christ his king, whom was well served by this work. The ferryman henceforth was known as Christopher (Χριστόφορος, the Christ-bearer), ultimately beheaded in Lycia for his evangelising and refusing to sacrifice to the local pagan gods. Patron saint of Baden, Mecklenburg and Braunschweig, Rab in Croatia, Vilnius, Riga and St Kitts, Christopher is also the protector of athletes, mariners and travellers, as well as invoked as an intercessor against sudden death (owing to the dangerous river-crossing) an toothaches. This spurious association comes from a donation of a supposed relic in the form of a giant moral to a group of friars in the Piedmontese town of Vercelli in the late Middle Ages. Described by one of the numerous pilgrims seeking relief over centuries, the silver and gold reliquary as dena molaris pugno major (a tooth bigger than a fist), the inheriting order of the Barnabites had the attraction examined scientifically in the late eighteenth century and was determined to have belonged to a hippopotamus. The object was summarily deaccessioned and forbidden to be treated with idolatry. The community apparently keeps the tooth out of public view as a curiosity in their monastery.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the death of Twitter (with synchronoptica) plus AI and dragnet surveillance

seven years ago: a Tagalong word for overwhelming cuteness plus an act to prevent pernicious political activities

eight years ago: acts of terrorism across Europe, visiting Château d’Oléron, a coup in Turkey, presidential commercial interests, colouring black and white photos per algorithm, lanterns of the dead plus punditry in America

nine years ago: a Venus flytrap, assorted links worth revisiting plus Samuel Taylor Coleridge on Cologne

eleven years ago: the frequency illusion

swing state (11. 716)

US Speaker of the House of Representatives who is calling on Joe Biden to resign immediately rather than serve out his term, arguing if he is too frail to stand for re-election he is unfit for office, has further threatened a legal challenge against the campaign to file suit, at least in some jurisdictions with more proscriptive voting laws or in pivotal places like Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin, to keep the incumbent on the ballot and put Harris on the Democratic party ballot. Despite the precedence from the recent supreme court ruling that Colorado could not exclude Trump for his participation in the storming of the capitol, the Biden had not yet formally received his party’s nomination and that none of these states’ law would prohibit such a change, with a legal system ready to advocate for Trump and legislative ambiguity a matter for the courts now with the end of the Chevron deference, it is difficult to predict what other specious obstacles the GOP might bring forward.

🥥🌴🇺🇸 (11. 715)

Having missed the reference, we appreciated this—attempted—explainer on the memes again in circulation after Joe Biden’s endorsement of Kamala Harris via Miss Cellania. Adopted by supporters of her bid to express enthusiasm, it originates from a set of remarks given by Harris back in May of 2023 at the swearing-in ceremony for a group of commissioners tasked with improving economic and educational outcomes for Hispanic communities:
“Everything is in context… My mother—would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’ You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”

Formerly the gauge of a president’s relatability, likability was whether or not you could enjoy a beer with them (or at least if their taste and style of eating wasn’t off-kilter) but now it seems memeification (see also) speaks to that question and will continue to inform the campaign. More from NPR at the link above including a round up of other viral moments.

“I can imagine what can be, unburdened by what has been.”

abysmal zone (11. 714)

Via Kottke, we learn that after over a decade of readings that suggested significant amounts of oxygen were being produced on the seafloor, dismissed as an error since no photosynthesis can occur in the region of the deep where no sunlight penetrates, researchers have now concluded that the “dark oxygen” is real and likely produced by polymetalic nodules strewn across the ocean floor in the Clarion-Clipperton region—see also below. The result of millions of years of accretion of elements dissolved in seawater, these lumps, composed of manganese, copper, cobalt and lithium, working in concert are natural batteries, cause electrolysis and split seawater into its component hydrogen and oxygen with its voltage. Maybe abiotic pathways for oxygen resources could support life elsewhere. It is precisely this property that has attracted mining companies with proposals to harvest the nodules for raw material for battery manufacture, with many in the scientific community calling for a moratorium on development for fear it would destroy a potential ecosystem that we know nothing about.

a1000 (11. 713)

Released on this date in 1985, introduced at a gala held at Lincoln Center in New York City by Andy Warhol (see also) and Debbie Harry, but not widely available to the public until the following year due to production and distribution difficulties by Commodore International, the first personal computer of the Amiga series was powerful day standards of the day and featured a preemptive multitasking operating system that allowed it process high quality graphics and sounds, including a text-to-speech library and voice input/output, without degrading performance. The innovative model was especially well received by the gaming community and visual artists.

8x8 (11. 712)

veepstakes: Sherwin-Williams paint colour or potential running-mate for Kamala Harris 

prince rupert’s cube: Platonic solids will fit through an identically shaped one, thanks to the ponderings of a seventeenth century Rheinland monarch—see previously  

hollywood walk-outs: publicity stills from film’s Golden Age of movie casts in full costume paraded outside between takes—via Messy Nessy Chic  

bareback: the bleaching, normalising of a rather vulgar terms used in wide contexts  

news cycle: breaking stories happening faster than area man can generate uninformed opinions  

orrery: a look at the Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium, the world’s oldest and smallest functioning astronomical theatre created by a weaver turned star-gazer and purchased by the king—via ibīdem  

she’s just not sufficiently grateful: all the ways the GOP is melting down over the changed presidential race

 synchronoptica

one year ago: another MST3K classic (with synchronoptica), a virtual diving-bell, assorted links worth revisiting plus a banger from The Cars

seven years ago: mushroom season, poorly drawn cats plus boustrophedic writing

nine years ago: more on author Karl May plus comic book heroes

eleven years ago: a haircut for Greece plus ceremonial government roles

fourteen years ago: more bad banks plus Oktoberfest and other attractions

wilde karde (11. 711)

During the mid to late summer, fields can filled with these tall flowering perennials that had always called thistles (Disteln, a much shorter cousin it turns out) but are properly classified under Linnean taxonomy Dipsacus fullonum (teasel or by the title common name in German) from the Greek δισᴨα for thirst for the cup-like catchments that form where the leaves merge with the stem that collects water. These little obstacles may have evolved to prevent bugs from climbing up to the inflorescence (blooming like a pineapple, where they differ from thistles) of pink to purple flowers. With a wide range from Africa to Eurasia, the dried heads are an important over-wintering food resource for birds and the plant formerly played a role in the textile industry (see also) as a natural comb for teasing, raising the nap on fabrics, particularly wool—a process called fulling.

tron/troff (11. 710)

Via Slashdot, we are directed towards a reflective essay from Harvard Computer Science professor Harry R Lewis, whom taught both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, positing the two enduring lessons of technology: be careful what you ask them for and it can be hard to tell what they are doing. Gleaned already back in the mid- to late-1960s when electromechanical computers were far from inscrutable, prior to miniaturisation of circuits, Lewis, through switches and dials, learned how to listen to machines to not only diagnose problems but also, with careful attention (see also), to know if a programme was going to deliver reliable results and goes on to address the doubly blackboxed array of algorithms and lickspittle mimicry of artificial intelligence by never bypassing human judgment from the parameters and recognising that the humanities don’t provide ready answers but rather better informed questions and lines of inquiry.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Mary Magdalen (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: assorted links worth revisiting,  a challenging diplomatic mission plus a history of ink

eleven years ago: a toy drone

fourteen years ago: a storied Berlin discothek plus a Bulli cake

in the best interest of my party and my country (11. 709)

Abruptly, though anticipated, Joe Biden announced from his Delaware home that he will not be seeking his party’s nomination for the Democratic ticket during the convention to be held in Chicago in less than a month’s time following a poor showing during a June debate against Trump and at the urging of the party’s senior leadership. Later on Sunday, Biden endorsed vice-president Harris for as candidate. While some news sources are focused on the internecine turmoil and compressed chaos—Biden ending a fifty year career as a public servant and there have been no switching tickets this late in the election since the DNC was hosted by the same city more than half a century ago—Trump, who already expressed that he favoured Biden staying in, has been staging a campaign of anti-incumbency (though they are both essentially incumbents) and personal insults, and a new contender, be it Harris (a former prosecutor against a hardened felony could be interesting) or another to be picked at the accelerated primary redux during the convention, shifts dynamics that the Trump campaign may not be able to adapt sufficiently to the new fundamentals, even with Trump’s near martyrdom and a streak of apparent wins in court, given the majority of Americans have long expressed that they did not want to see a rematch between the two.

we shape our tools and then the tools shape us (11. 708)

Subtitled An Inventory of Effects and co-created by media analyst who coined the phrase referenced Marshall McLuhan in 1967, the collaborative best-seller experimentally formatted had the imprimatur of McLuhan himself to call out how various outlets massaged our senses in order to maintain currency and hold interest—with some anecdotes that it was a typo that stuck—arguing that technologies, from the wheel, to the loom, to the printing press and beyond rather than their content as an extension (and increasingly necessary aid thereto in order to function therein) of our perceptions of the world, informed by the same progress. The recording is not exactly an audio book but rather a montage of main statements punctuated by dissonant sound-effects meant to suggest the fragmentation of the listening experience.

10x10 (11. 707)

the institute for controlled speleogenesis: an fictional organisation designing artificial caves  

indecent proposal: the infamous 1994 advertising campaign, Love Letters from Fiat 

a river runs through it: the consequences of taming—and rewilding—the Los Angeles River (see previously)—via Nag on the Lake  

amazombies: online retail giant’s affiliate programme for customer returns are overtaxing for brick-and-mortar partners  

one hundred days of cultural clarity: an exploration of recent memes and trends  

bootstraps: JD Vance as the toxic byproduct of America’s obsession with rags-to-riches narratives  

polkamania: Weird AI (see below) drops a new new medley of song parodies  

posse: publish (on your) own site, syndicate elsewhere  

fiddler on the forum: male exploitation on the Carol Burnett Show—see also 

nietzsche and the noonday demon: the fictitious French philosopher, Jean-Baptiste Botul, whose writings are often cited

12ᵉ arrondissement (11. 706)

Owing to its historic location on the bank of the Seine and adjacent to Paris but not within the city limits, a large portion of the municipality of Bercy began in the eighteenth century as a entrepôt, a warehousing centre fore receiving all manner of goods destined for consumption by the Parisians but not subject to import levies. The quarter for nearly two hundred years was the heart of the wine trade particularly and a unique commercial culture developed with essentially factory outlet taverns and venues operating along side the merchants, bottlers and distributors. Shifting expectations in the decanting and ouillage (the practise of mixing vintages to top off a bottle) and technological advances sent the bottling and sales back to individual vintners and by the 1960s the importance of the marketplace was in decline, and in the 1980s, the warehouse district was razed to make way for a sports stadium. Much more from Messy Nessy Chic at the link up top.

synchronoptica

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

seven years ago: the first sixth months of Trump plus Harlem hoarders

eight years ago: driverless cars plus more links to enjoy

who goes nazi? (11. 705)

Prominent American journalist and broadcaster Dorothy Thompson was the first US reporter to be expelled from Germany in 1934, the order delivered by the Gestapo to her lodgings at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin with Thompson given twenty-four hours to leave the country, for her articles and observations critical of the party and its leader, as a Little Man and the embodiment of mediocrity. Continuing her work, Thompson rallied against the regime over the next two decades, trying to warn the world about its mindset and strongly advocated for first Jewish refugees, but recognising the right-wing infiltration of the Zionist movement, then displaced Palestinians, one of her more memorable and influential essays was published in 1941 by Harper’s Magazine, framed as a guessing-game with the objective of trying to spot the fascist at a social gathering, whom despite maintaining they have no truck with such dark ideologies would nonetheless support a mainstream, normalised movement under a different name—or under the same, unabashedly.

…The saturnine man over there talking with a lovely French emigree is already a Nazi.  Mr. C is a brilliant and embittered intellectual.  He was a poor white-trash Southern boy, a scholarship student at two universities where he took all the scholastic honours but was never invited to join a fraternity.  His brilliant gifts won for him successively government positions, partnership in a prominent law firm, and eventually a highly paid job as a Wall Street adviser.  He has always moved among important people and always been socially on the periphery.  His colleagues have admired his brains and exploited them, but they have seldom invited him—or his wife—to dinner. He is a snob, loathing his own snobbery.  He despises the men about him—he despises, for instance, Mr. B—because he knows that what he has had to achieve by relentless work men like B have won by knowing the right people. But his contempt is inextricably mingled with envy.  Even more than he hates the class into which he has insecurely risen, does he hate the people from whom he came. He hates his mother and his father for being his parents. He loathes everything that reminds him of his origins and his humiliations.  He is bitterly anti-Semitic because the social insecurity of the Jews reminds him of his own psychological insecurity. Pity he has utterly erased from his nature, and joy he has never known.  He has an ambition, bitter and burning. It is to rise to such an eminence that no one can ever again humiliate him.  Not to rule but to be the secret ruler, pulling the strings of puppets created by his brains.  Already some of them are talking his language—though they have never met him.

There he sits: he talks awkwardly rather than glibly; he is courteous.  He commands a distant and cold respect.  But he is a very dangerous man.  Were he primitive and brutal he would be a criminal—a murderer.  But he is subtle and cruel.  He would rise high in a Nazi regime. It would need men just like him—intellectual and ruthless.  But Mr. C is not a born Nazi. He is the product of a democracy hypocritically preaching social equality and practicing a carelessly brutal snobbery.  He is a sensitive, gifted man who has been humiliated into nihilism.  He would laugh to see heads roll…

…Mrs. E would go Nazi as sure as you are born.  That statement surprises you? Mrs. E seems so sweet, so clinging, so cowed.  She is.  She is a masochist.  She is married to a man who never ceases to humiliate her, to lord it over her, to treat her with less consideration than he does his dogs. He is a prominent scientist, and Mrs. E, who married him very young, has persuaded herself that he is a genius, and that there is something of superior womanliness in her utter lack of pride, in her doglike devotion. She speaks disapprovingly of other “masculine” or insufficiently devoted wives. Her husband, however, is bored to death with her.  He neglects her completely and she is looking for someone else before whom to pour her ecstatic self-abasement.  She will titillate with pleased excitement to the first popular hero who proclaims the basic subordination of women…

Married to Nobel award winning author Sinclair Lewis (It Can’t Happen Here), the 1942 film Woman of the Year, starring Katherine Hepburn (her first with Spencer Tracy and the later musical adaptation featuring Lauren Bacall), was loosely based on Thompson’s life and career.

fashion statement (11. 704)

Whilst strongly disagreeing with the conclusion that Trump’s party has mastered optics and branding, from the wholly unoriginal MAGA hat of Ronald Reagan to the latest donning on gauzy ear bandages—which caught my attention as truly laying bare the GOP identity as a cult, something reminiscent of the off-putting Ellen Jamesians from The World According to Garp who voluntarily cut out their tongues in solidarity—it is true that at least for now with the RNC over and Republicans confident and congratulatory that the Democrats did not deliver the sort of counter-programming that they wanted, with Joe Biden self-isolating with a mild case of COVID and more and more senior party figures publicly urging him to withdraw his candidacy from the ticket. Although I cannot say for certain that replacing Biden would help the Democrats’ chances, and down-ballot contests to retain the nearly evenly divided congress, I am glad that party leaders are forthcoming about their reservations, since public unanimity with private reservations was too much like Trump’s adults in the room. Moreover Democrats are pretty skilled when it comes to meme-making and wearing white during legislative sessions in protest for women's rights has been striking and classy, and aside from all that, the Democrats’ diversity and plurality speaks for itself.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Siege of Chartes (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: the World of Sid and Marty Krofft

nine years ago: The Golden Bough plus hysteria over overdue earthquakes

eleven years ago: augmented realities, the internet’s free trial period is over plus domestic spying in Germany

twelve years ago: departing for Norway 

i stand before you to proclaim tonight, america is a land where dreams can come true for all of us (11. 703)

Our faithful chronicler reminds us that on this day during the DNC in San Francisco, congress woman of New York, representing Queens the real-world setting of All in the Family, Geraldine Ferraro accepted the party’s nomination for vice president as the running mate of Walter Mondale for the 1984 Democratic ticket. Though many pundits saw this as politically risky, Ferraro reaffirmed her campaigning credentials and proved to be a quite formidable debater against Ronald Reagan’s policies, at times overshadowing Mondale and narrowing the incumbent’s considerable lead in the polls to a tie. The race however was beset scrutiny and criticism, which seemingly would have otherwise been more tempered for male candidates with pro-choice platforms, and criticised roundly in the media for announcing that her husband would not be releasing his income tax returns, as was customary but not a required disclosure, saying that doing so could disadvantage her spouse’s real estate business. Dismissing the issue by joking, “so you people married to Italian men—you know what it’s like,” turned out to be a miscalculation and was again attacked as promoting ethnic and gender stereotypes and some outlets suggested connections to the mob. Although eventually eventually both filings were given to the press and Ferraro endured a rather gruelling two-hour cross-examination line by line of the couples’ separate returns, the closed matter had consequences that lingered up until the election. Carrying the vice-presidential debate against George HW Bush—albeit who was judged the winner was split strongly among men and women polled, Second Lady Barbara Bush, referencing the financial disclosures and property portfolio that ran a bit counter to her narrative of as the child of immigrants and self-determination and angry about her husband being upstaged, publicly called Ferraro “that four-million-dollar—I can’t say it, but it rhymes with rich,” with the the vice-president’s press secretary reiterating, “She’s too bitchy—arrogant—humility isn’t one of her strong points, and I think that comes through. Though Mrs Bush issued a backhanded apology saying that she did not mean to imply Ferraro was a witch, none was given for the latter appraisal, saying the campaign was being hypersensitive for complaining about it. Mondale-Ferraro lost to Reagan-Bush in the popular vote by nineteen percent and only won the electoral endorsement of Minnesota and Washington, DC in November.

7x7 (11. 702)

drake’s equation: a reevaluation of the cosmic amenities we take for granted suggests that alien life might be exceedingly rare—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links  

now the chips are down: the archive of the BBC’s Computer Literacy Project—see previously—via Web Curios

sunnyside up: a supercut of the best egg scenes in cinema 

duckmaster: a luxury hotel’s waterfowl tradition  

crickets: how the chirping of the insect came to be synonymous with “a conspicuous silence”—via Strange Company 

blue screen of death: transportation, media outlets and health care disrupted by largest IT outage yet, exposing the fragility of our digital infrastructure—essentially what the y2k patch worked against 

star-studded: the shortlist revealed for Royal Greenwich Museum’s astronomy photographer of the year

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Genesis (with synchronoptica), the UK 1881 census plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: a zombie emoji, an engraved dinner knife, a gameified office, the woman’s signature on the US Declaration of Independence plus a stop-motion fairy-tale

nine years ago: Syncro-Vox animation

fourteen years ago: the landscape of Top Secret America plus an inspired preoccupation with rockets

evil malört (11. 701)

Already a somewhat notorious and reviled Swedish-style liqueur called bäsk, bitter and flavoured with wormwood and anise—Sweden being one of the few countries that never banned absinthe—a bartender is leaning into its noxious reputation with the Chicago distillery Jeppson (Bäska droppar is the most popular domestic label, drunk as a digestif), which imported the blend from the home country in the 1920s, first sold door-to-door as a medicine to bypass Prohibition restrictions. Pure described as tasting like “heartbreak and pencil-shavings” and previously offered as a boilermaker and during the emergence of the last brood, with an infusion of seventeen-year cicadas—no one asked for this—the latest concoction calls for a wash of truffle and sesame oil, chilli peppers, briny cuttlefish ink soaked in tobacco—specifically Newports. More about its reception—“grandma’s furniture from when she still smoked”—at the link above.

skynet (11. 700)

With the snowclone of a slogan “Make America First in AI” that appropriately spells out “mafia,” as I originally only suspected that Silicon Valley’s recent rally behind Trump was mostly an attempt to revitalise cryptocurrencies as a legitimate and safe store of wealth for tumultuous times, Trump’s draft executive order to eliminate burdensome regulations on development of artificial intelligence technology and military applications—described as a new “Manhattan Project” and scuttling ethical and safety-testing requirements for autonomous weapons—to ensure US dominance in the field is a worrying shift in policy. While the capabilities of AI as they currently stand are far from proven, the potential for a robot holocaust was not my first pick as existential threat that a second term would pose for the world, leaning towards either a cascading environmental collapse, a re-polarised geopolitical landscape or American irrelevance and dictatorship first and foremost. Furthermore, Trump’s vice-presidential pick as a former venture capitalist has the same mindset as the tech utopianists and accelerationists and is a vocal opponent of government interference, which if the technology realises its potential, would be wholly ungovernable.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump under to investigation (with synchronoptica)

nine years ago: typewriter...tip, tip, tip

eleven years ago: bad banks 

twelve years ago: baubles and market bubbles  

thirteen years ago: a mosquito-plagued campsite