8x8 (11. 908)

jianmen underground neutrino observatory: a tour of JUNO, the massive Chinese lab built to study the elusive particle—Damn Interesting’s Curated Links 

xoxo: Cabel Sasser’s talk on rediscovering a forgotten artist—more here from the presenter, see also

post on own site, syndicate elsewhere: more on the POSSE technique for retaining control of one’s work—see previously  

first draft: the Balloon Boy Hoax of 2009 illustrates the problems of for-profit journalism—see also 

saturday night soirées: the house parties of Charles Babbage (previously) boasted an impressive guest list, including Faraday, the Darwins, Dickens and more  

central casting: recalculating the Kevin Bacon Game with eigenvectors to reveal the most well connected film is Pulp Fiction—via Quantum of Sollazzo 

monsters and madonnas: the eerie, erotic photography of William Mortensen—labelled the “Antichrist of Hollywood” in the 1930s for his horror film inspired compositions  

strong thermal emission velocity enhancement: the rare atmospheric phenomenon called Steve (which science made a backronym) that sometimes accompanies geostorms

frostbite falls (11. 907)

The fictional terra nullius, an island in the middle of the Lake of the Woods (Pikwedina Sagainan) neither claimed by the US or Canada since conditions there were said to be inhospitable to human life, of Moosylvania is governed by presumed namesake Bullwinkle J Moose. In the finale of the first run of the series, an insidious plot to destroy the island by Fearless Leader was foiled by the duo’s ingenuity, and in hopes of getting the show renewed for syndication, Rocky and Bullwinkle producer Jay Ward dispatched an assistant to Minnesota to purchase an uninhabited island on the cross-border lake suitable as a stand-in and then launched a campaign to petition for statehood. A publicity team gathered sufficient signatures across America and Ward and associates arranged for an audience with president John F Kennedy on this day in 1962. Arriving however just as the Cuban Missile Crisis began (see also here and here), they were escorted off the premises of the White House at gun-point.

synchronoptica

one year ago: e-textiles (with synchronoptica) plus Don’t Look Now

 

seven years ago: rehabilitating cephalopods, occupational gender equity in Russia plus translating IKEA accessory names

 

eight years ago: denim televisions, Brexit and Marmite shortages plus clowns try to improve their public image

 

nine years ago: assorted links to revisit plus drone wars

 

twelve years ago: ISPs policing IPs

nightgaunts (11. 906)

Via Fancy Notions, we are directed towards a quirky, creepy featurette that definitely has the look and feel of a silent work from the 1920s, an homage to the great puppet animator Władysław Starewicz and by extension, inspiration Tim Burton, but was only made in 1998. From studio Screen Novelties’ Seamus Walsh and Mark Caballero in this stop-motion animation—with fitting accompaniment—a weird little old man is captured by flying demons (the titular creatures based on an HP Lovecraft story) and taken to the goblins’ lair. Watching the cartoon was reminiscent of perennially viewing of Disney’s Halloween Treat and the inclusion of the 1929 Silly Symphony The Skeleton Dance but much better crafted and with a spookier soundtrack best left on repeat.

let’s not do any more questions. let’s just listen to music—let’s make it into a music (11. 905)

During a campaign rally in suburban Philadelphia—hosted by former potential running-mate South Dakota governor Kristi Noem who was withdrawn from consideration for executing a family dog— Donald Trump requested the air-conditioning be turned on after two attendees collapsed apparently due to the heat. On learning that that was not possible, Trump decided to turn the town hall meeting into an impromptu dance party as the crowd slowly departed over the next forty minutes, with Trump swaying and bouncing on his heels, the moderator joining him on stage. The playlist on repeat featured Trump’s standards—many songs whose artists disavow Trump’s use of their music and have threatened legal action to stop him (see previously), including Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Rufus Wainwright, ABBA and Celine Dion. Afterwards, Trump commended the two people who had fainted as patriots, “We love them and because of them, we ended up with some great music, right?”

 synchronoptica

one year ago: hyperinflation in Germany (with synchronoptica), performer Adelaide Hall plus the Battle of the Chinese Farm

seven years ago: elections in Austria

eight years ago: a wine fountain for thirsty pilgrims, Memphis-Milano style, the history of the selfie plus the US retaliates in kind over Russian meddling in the election

nine years ago: refugee politics in Europe plus social distance

twelve years ago: European disunity plus font-branding

the difference engine (11. 904)

Courtesy of ibīdem and following the same steampunk theme, we are directed to a presentation and pitch delivered by Charles Babbage (previously), disgraced and dismissed by his domestic backers to recuperate trust in his project, that addressed the concepts of software and programmable computers back in mid-September of 1840, couched in of course much plainer language as no one had such vocabulary in their quiver beforehand and discovered while researching an alternate history by the co-author of the above speculative work of science fiction. Building off the analogous punch-cards of the Jacquard loom, Babbage seemingly convinced his audience of prestigious and influential figures of the potential of his proposal, but having deposited such a world-changing idea, the outreach proves to be a dud and goes nowhere—with possibly some intrigue and industrial espionage behind this ultimate reception and protectionism over progress. Much more at the links above.

interchangeable electric display apparatus (11. 903)

Via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest (much more to explore there), we learn about inventor George Lafayette Mason’s 1898 twenty-one segment display (see previously) that could produce all the letters of the alphabet, though making different choices than the LED standard that arose with a fussy Victorian typeface that preserves serifs and other typographical fiddly bits. Several hardware engineers have recently rediscovered Mason’s contributions and have made functioning, steampunk versions of his patent.

say what again! say what again—i dare you, i double dog dare you (11. 902)

Having premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Quentin Tarantino’s follow-up film to Reservoir Dogs went into general release in the United States on this day in 1994. The independent crime film, both a critical and commercial success garnering both Oscars for screen play and best picture as well as the Palme d’Or, it reinvigorated the careers of John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Tim Roth and introduced Uma Thurmond. Despite the iconic status of the soundtrack, no score was composed, using a mix of soul, classic ballads and surf music. Fragmented exploitation and heralded as defining both the genre of neo-noir and gangland camp like its source material, Pulp Fiction’s homage to other movies and cinematic devices is considered essential to the film.

*     *     *     *     *

synchronoptica

one year ago: unredacting classified documents with AI (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: software writing itself, more on the search for dark matter, offloading surplus energy plus the Snoopy airport of Sonoma County

eight years ago: a Simpsons’ meta-reference to welcome Yoko Ono in Iceland, aversion to jargon plus a tree-spade for construction sites

nine years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus a trip to the Wasserkuppe

twelve years ago: Atoms for Peace

roll for insight (11. 901)

As Dungeons & Dragons marks its fiftieth anniversary—the tabletop role-playing game that invites players to invent and articulate their own narrative arcs, psychiatrists are increasingly prone to recognise the benefit of play as a heuristic for group therapy. Whilst research is ongoing regarding improving social skills and empathy, many patients and counsellors (in the loose role of Dungeon Master, despite or because of the attendant Satanic Panic) alike have accepted the approach as effective.

late-bloomer (11. 900)

Once the peonies (Pfingstrosen) had sprouted and flowered in Spring, we cut the ones growing in the bed off the front door back lest they take too much water from the lavender and other neighbours. A few weeks ago, however, another one emerged, well out of season.
Renewal buds develop in the summertime underground, becoming stems with primordia, anlage differentiating but remaining dormant, normally. We watched this one outlier grow and waited and waited for weeks to see what would happen. Has anyone else experienced this?  Being this far out of sync seems to suggest something.  It did finally bloom, but while we were away on vacation and the strong winds destroyed it right away.

peabody visual aids (11. 899)

Courtesy of Messy Nessy Chic, we enjoyed perusing this gallery of antique library infographics salvaged from the trash in 2003. Making use of the Dewey decimal system, the reference and the periodical desk less daunting for students, these posters which date from the 1930s and 1940s (see also) and were designed by Professor Ruby Ethel Cundiff who pioneered the use of multimedia and cooperation between school libraries and the classroom in a career spanning five decades, defining reference collections and library science during her tenure at the Peabody College for Teachers, now part of Vanderbilt University.

university commas (11. 898)

Courtesy of Language Log, we enjoyed this comic panel from xkcd (previously) about signature punctuation pedantry that goes beyond the sometimes contentious serial separator known as the Oxford comma with editors and proofreaders agonising over what’s perceived to be omissions or superfluous errata. Other places of higher learning were spared the indignity but surely there are other candidate colleges.  The Massachusetts Institute of Technology list diff was an especially nice touch for a full-stop.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus a warrant out for the Knights Templar

seven years ago: a negative-emissions power-plant in Iceland plus Barnum’s white elephant

eight years ago: super strong silk, more links to enjoy plus Nobel laureate Bob Dylan

nine years ago: pioneering inventions plus some trivia about trivia

twelve years ago: EU citizens share Nobel Peace Prize

7x7 (11. 897)

ghost lot: an installation of sunken cars buried in a mall parking area as commentary on catering to automobile culture 

weather manipulation: a whirlwind of conspiracy theories over recent hurricanes in the US have netted distrust, death threats for meteorologists 

loveland frogmen: maps of the most famous cryptids and mythical monsters charted by America states and internationally—via Nag on the Lake  

scripting news: a founding member of the blogosphere enters his fourth decade—via Waxy  

general headquarters: the lost board game from Kurt Vonnegut (previously) has been completed and available for purchase 

theobros: understanding the GOP’s efforts to remake America through Christian Nationalists—via Miss Cellania  

y-crossing: the Trinity Bridge of Crowland, Lincolnshire, a relic before the rivers were rerouted

synchronoptica

one year ago: a catalogue of edible seeds (with synchronoptica) plus the Polish System of pedagogy

seven years ago: a line rider banger, pictorial kanji, a Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden plus the US withdraws from UNESCO

eight years ago: Mr Yuk plus a monument to Henrietta Lacks

nine years ago: a courtly selfie-stick plus assorted links to revisit

fourteen years ago: predictive text plus Japanese heraldic traditions

fürstenberg / havel (11. 896)

Leaving Himmelpforte on the Stolpersee, we headed back slowly towards our home port on Röblinsee for an early departure the next morning.

After the narrows through the Havel, we took the boat around the alcoves that make up the quartet of lakes around the small city (called Wasserstadt) and passed the entrance to the memorial to Ravensbrück concentration camp marked with a posthumously upscaled version of East German sculptor William Lammert die Tragende (Woman with Burden) statue—most of his art destroyed by the Nazis as degenerate and subversive—installed with the opening of the Gedenkstätte in 1959. Exploring Fürstenberg a bit more, we came across a monument to Lenin hidden in the overgrowth in front of the abandoned barracks before venturing to the city centre for dinner at the pier.

leatherface (11. 895)

Going into general release on this day in 1974 in the US after its premiere on 1 October near the filming locations in Austin, the independent horror movie by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, the low-budget Texas Chainsaw Massacre, costing about a hundred thousand dollars to make with a cast of virtual unknown actors (narrator John Larroquette was paid in marijuana), had an international box-office of over thirty-million. While billed as based on a true story (a composite of criminals informed the plot including Butcher of Plainfield Ed Gein, serial killer and body-snatcher, who also inspired Norman Bates of Psycho and Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs), the director and cowriter Hooper states the plot of a group of friends pursued by cannibals is more an allegory for the shifting political landscape of misdirection on the part of politicians with Watergate, the Oil Crisis and massacres in Vietnam coupled with the glib brutality of the nightly news. Controversial for its gore and (notably off-screen) violence, it was well-received by audiences and critics alike and set the standard for horror films to follow.

*     *     *     *     *

synchronoptica

one year ago: the death of Pius XII (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit

seven years ago: a collection of samplers plus composite mug shots

eight years ago: hairdresser to the stars

nine years ago: lost time and calendar conversion plus more on the Volkswagen emissions scandal

twelve years ago: Germany’s Energy Transition 

konzentrationslager uckermark (11. 894)

H and I took a hike around the forested trail of the Sidowsee out of Himmelpfort and continued along the path back towards Fürstenberg. 

A sub-camp for forced labour of the Ravensbrück Women‘s detention centre, little remains in terms of remembrance for this concentration camp for young girls and women considered difficult or otherwise delinquent for various infractions and were put to work under very harsh conditions (the overseers, Aufseherinnen, were particularly brutal and subject to the Ravensbrücker Prozess by British authorities for war crimes). Girls as young as sixteen produced components for Siemens & Halske for the war effort, including V2 rocket bombs and intercom systems for submarines, and once they aged out at twenty-one, they were transferred to Ravensbrück. 

The juvenile camp was closed at the beginning of 1945 to convert it to an emergency extermination operation with a gas chamber, with some five-thousand female inmates deemed too sick, uncooperative of having outlived their usefulness for slave labour at fifty-two. Of the estimated one hundred thirty thousand women processed through Ravensbrück, the site conserved and memorialised after being liberated by the Soviets in March of 1945 along with the site at Uckermark, some additional fifty thousand perished due to punishingly austere treatment, starvation rations and medical experimentation. Eighty percent were political prisoners (members of the resistance) from all over Nazi occupied territories with a significant population of Jewish, Sini and Roma women imprisoned only for their heritage. Inmates were forced to wear triangles sewn into their uniforms in order to denote their crime and nationality—often in combination—lesbians, prostitutes, Romani (leveled with the accusation of racial pollution) and those who refused to get married were lumped together and wore black triangles.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Operation Nickel Grass (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: a visit to Büdingen, assorted links to revisit plus Victorian mosseries

eight years ago: computer-generated music from Alan Turing 

nine years ago: the inspiration for the Flying Dutchman plus automating laundry

ten years ago: the reasoning behind making Brussels the capital of the EU plus Wikipedia as a major

großer lychensee (11. 893)

Leaving the Haussee of Himmelpfort, we took a short trip through the tributary Wolblitz (the river‘s name meaning the Little Havel in Old Slavic) for a really magical route with wooden bays and tight curves all to ourselves and crossed into the public dock in Lychen.  We walked around the town for a bit and had a nice lunch at a former coffee mill and rostery.  One the way back to the boat, we passed the the historic home of one Johann Kirsten who circa 1900 invented the push pen, thumbtack, whose present occupant had somewhat appropriately it seemed established a Museum of Fake News, using the windows as a bulletin board for made-up headlines.  The weather turning windy and rainy and not much time left in the day for traveling, we returned to the campsite by the lock in Himmelpforte and had our pitch still waiting for us—although our neighbors had moved on, an older couple who had been on the waters since May and had been working their jobs remotely thanks to the pervasive WiFi coverage with the company of their two adventurous cats.  

synchronotpica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica), a pristine tomb discovered in Naples plus a fully outfitted station wagon

eight years ago: more links to enjoy, the Altamura Man plus Parliament under repair

nine years ago: the Best of Reddit

ten years ago: parenting around the world 

eleven years ago: debt-limits and default

coeli porta (11. 892)

 

Departing Röblinsee through the Fürstenberg lock and crossed the canal into Stolpsee, and although intending just to stop at a municipal harbour to check out the town, we ended up staying moored at entrance to Himmelspfort, the spot turning out to be idyllic, essentially all to ourselves and aligned with what we envisioned camping by boat would be. After we got settled, we took a look at the ancient town named for a former Cistercian monastery, abandoned and left for ruins after sacralisation but the adjacent brewery founded by the monks was still intact and active.

The town is also known for its Weihnachtspostamt, upholding a tradition began by two postal workers in 1984 when they started answering children’s letters to Santa Claus (the Weihnachtsmann in East German times)—the whole town kind of has a Christmas theme and today, the postal service answers around three-hundred thousand letters from all over the world, but apparently is only one of seven addresses in Germany for such dispatches.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: fantastic spiralling art with AI (with synchronoptica), a graphic design collection curated by Kristen Lound plus LEGO as a media for fine art

seven years ago: murderous dioramas, proposed sovereignty for a Great Lake plus Japanese bathroom ghosts

eight years ago: Obama to his successor on unfinished business, solar plasma eruptions, a new front in the Cola Wars plus early canned, robotic music

nine years ago: holiday creep

ten years ago: the Ebola outbreak, stealing drug-offenders identities plus the landed gentry unchanged for a thousand years