8x8 (12. 112)

carnian pluvial event: that time it rained for two million years  

acme corporation: eight technological failures of 2024  

double-harvest: Christmas tree farmers exploring mycoforestry to raise timber and mushrooms on the same plot of land 

 🐜: how the world of ant geopolitics mirrors that of human colonisation and globalisation  

9.3 m_w: the Boxing Day Tsunami that cost a quarter of a million lives twenty years on

royal warrant: chocolatier to British crown Cadbury is delisted after generations for continued business operations in Russia  

woty: the Fritinancy edition—via Kottke 

wax wings: researchers awaiting telemetry back from the Parker Solar probe (previously) after historic approach to the Sun

synchronoptica

one year ago: DJ Earworm’s annual (with synchronoptica), The Glass Menagerie (1944) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: a banger to time for New Year’s

eight years ago: a charging stretch of road, outer space vodka plus 2016 in review

nine years ago: 3D printing as a cottage industry, Quentin Crisp shares their favourite gangster films, Jesus in Japan, lions and lionesses plus Aleister Crowley’s manor

eleven years ago: Second Christmas plus a tuxedo vest

the fees being charged by panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to panama by the us—this complete 'rip-off' of our country will immediately stop (12. 111)

Though US president-elect Trump’s stupid antics are already too much to keep up with, they become too hard to ignore once the enter the territory of diplomatic crises and quashing internationally agreed upon norms of behaviour. A bundle of such instances can be traced to a recent assertion that America can and should reclaim the Panama Canal because of perceived unfair transit fees applied to US flagged vessels (never mind how America tanked British supremacy over a similar squabble in the Suez)—which seem to have antecedents in a Trump branded hotel in the capital that failed to pay Panamanian income taxes and social security for employees. The operation and management is administered (since New Year’s Eve 1999 when the US handed over the concession) by the Panama Canal Authority, a government agency which considers the waterway inalienable patrimony. Per the Torrijos-Carter treaties (see above) negotiated in 1977, America retains a right to defend the canal from threats to neutral operations but holds no claim to it. While there are two ports in the isthmus operated by China, there are no indications that American ship traffic has been affected, though imposing higher transit fees on non-US carriers might be seen as a way to bolster planned universal tariffs. At the same time, Trump is also renewing calls for the sale of Greenland to America (following offers to annex Canada as the fifty-first state), calling ownership and control of the Danish autonomous territory “an absolute necessity” for reasons of national security and global freedom. Neither property is for sale.

niemandsland (12. 110)

Though no White Christmas down in the valley, we took the dog for a frolic through the snow up on the highlands near of the Schwarzes Moor along the Lange Rhön (previously), an extensive basalt plateau about eight hundred metres in elevation. 

We saw the former border crossing Grabenberg with preserved East German watchtower, a relic in this nature preserve not far from the Dreilandereck, the tri-point where Bavaria, Hessen and Thüringen meet. 

Due to the constrains of the landscape and connecting roads, the partition extended DDR territory five hundred metres into West Germany in a horseshoe-shaped strip nicknamed die Badehose (the bathing trunks), which provided border guards considerable challenges in keeping Bavarian tourist from wandering into this invisible no man’s land.

the genovese syndrome (12. 109)

On this day in 1974, ten years after the violent murder of resident Kitty Genovese outside the same apartment building in the Kew Gardens neighbourhood of Queens for which no one intervened or called the police in what was dubbed the bystander effect and was cited as a textbook case for decades—partially due to this second tragic death—until upon reevaluation it was revealed that the number of witnesses and their actions had been respectively over- and under-reported, fashion model (her profession was later retracted in articles but no correction was given) Sandra Zahler was beaten to death. Upon questioning by detectives a day and a half later once the bludgeoned body was discovered found that neighbours had heard screams and indications of a struggle but no witnesses—many of whom were present in 1964—came forward, either citing the holiday or expecting others to have heard the commotion and alerted authorities. Eventually the building’s elevator operator corroborated police suspicions for Zahler’s estranged boyfriend.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Godwin’s Law (with synchronoptica), a visit to a basalt factory plus The Sting (1973)

seven years ago: more holiday greetings

ten years ago: another Yule Log

eleven years ago: endangered specie 

twelve years ago: luck-bringers 

pause for station identification (12. 108)

We at PfRC wish you and yours a all good things and a very merry holiday season!  Thanks for visiting and take care of one another and come back real soon!

send in the clowns (12. 107)

Known as the Bohemian Sousa for his vast body of works including marches, polkas and waltzes, we are introduced to the military bandmaster, conductor and composer Julius Ernest Wilhelm Fučík outside of Czech ceremonial and patriotic music via his opus sixty-eight, written in October 1897 whilst stationed in Sarajevo for the Austro-Hungarian Army, originally titled “Grande Marche Chromatique,” in reference to the climbing and descending scales used throughout, but retitled based on his personal interest in the Roman Empire and impressed by a particular scene in Quo Vadis? to Vjezd gladiátorů (Entrance of the Gladiators). Adapted for piano and later for woodwind orchestra, the air renamed to “Thunder and Blazes,” became up tempo synonymous by the turn of the century with circuses and anticipated the procession of clowns. Despite this well-established and enduring association (see also, see above), the popular piece was used accompany the arrival and departure of SS commandants in Nazi concentration camps.

forschungslaboratorium für elektronenphysik (12. 106)

Autodidact in applied physics and prolific inventor, Baron Manfred von Ardenne, after presenting to the public his concept of Fernsehen a year and a half earlier, achieved his first wholly electronic transmission of television pictures, using a cathode ray tube (see more) for both transmission and reception, on this day in 1933. Following trial runs on broadcasters, Ardenne’s technological advance progressed quickly with the private station of Paul Nipkow culminating with the live airing of the 1936 Berlin Games. Having also conducted pioneering experiments in the fields of radar, radio, isotope separation and inventing the scanning electron microscope, Ardenne’s research facilities in Berlin-Lichtenfelde were put a protective order by Soviet occupying forces in April 1945 and Ardenne and his colleagues were reassigned to laboratories in Abkhazia to work on the atomic bomb project (see also)—like the Russian version of Operation Paperclip. Realising that participation in such a plan would jeopardise his eventual repatriation to East Germany, Ardenne convinced authorities to focus on uranium enrichment rather than weaponising the programme, slowly development until the Americans bombed Japan and an extensive espionage network determined that it was more than theoretical possible. Once Ardenne returned to the DDR and assumed an advisory role in the government, he applied his study and resources to medical diagnostics, inventing an early form MRI scanner and radiotherapies to treat cancer.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: Christmas Greetings (with synchronoptica), Aida (1871) plus more accidental Renaissance art

seven years ago: Sleighrunner, Trump’s challenge coin plus more Season’s Greetings

eight years ago: A Human Document, internet court plus a collection of Yule Logs

nine years ago: more Yule Logs 

ten years ago: a visit from Father Frost

eleven years ago: 2013 wrapped plus a holiday reckoning  

fruitcake (12. 105)

Language Log featured recently a duo of Christmas confections from Italy and Germany and while the latter in the Stollen might have a more robust etymology, derivative of the verb stellen—to put—and from the Ancient Greek στήλη, stēlē, to support, as in the beams constructed in a mine shaft to prevent a tunnel from collapsing (see also here and here), it is the former in the mildly sweet and far less dense (fluffy as compared to the Stollen’s consistency of a neutron star) the panettone that has a more intriguing composition as a augmentation of a diminutive, big little bread. Fettuccine is the reverse formation in little big slice, and there’s a single-serving variant called a panettoncini, a diminutive of the augmentative of the diminutive. More at the links above.

a555 (12. 104)

Via Things Magazine year-end round-up we are invited to take an epic road-trip (which we managed to somehow miss earlier) for the fiftieth anniversary of Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, a twenty-two minute musical tribute to the German road network (previously here and here) that transformed the entire electronic music landscape—achieving international chart success the following year once pared down to three-minutes and twenty-eight seconds for radio audiences. Legend has it that the group were inspired by a stretch of West German highway from Köln to Bonn, a main artery from the international airport, a Brutalist masterwork who band member Florian Schneider’s father designed, to the capital and just a few junctions from their Düsseldorf studios. Much more from Tim Jonze’ pilgrimage at the link above. You need to unmute for this one.

synchronoptica

one year ago: miscellany from the depths of Wikipedia (with synchronoptica), assorted links to revisit plus Hansel and Gretel (1893)

seven years ago: keep watching the skies plus misappropriating a Secessionist motto

eight years ago: combatting fake news

nine years ago: a cavalcade of holiday customs, Christmas ghost stories, lip balm recalled over high THC levels plus Seasons’ Greetings

ten years ago: Ship of Theseus

 

demi-conductor (12. 103)

Via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links, we are directed to a class of quasiparticles in condensed matter physics—the field of study that focuses on the difference of properties and behaviours on macroscopic versus microscopic scales—that has the unexpected quality of carrying mass and charge in one direction only and when turned 90° suddenly become massless. Though the scholarship has been established for about a decade regarding such topological behaviour, researchers believe that harnessing such novel semi-Dirac fermions (with a strangely definitive level of certainty for the quantum realm) could have revolutionary applications for quantum computing and transcend the restraints of traditional circuitry that’s too blunt to wire reliably for qubits on a nano-scale. The semi- and super-conductors of solid state electronics do not corral energy in orderly or predictable ways for such a delicate set-up but if the circuit could be a virtual one comprised not of wire but of a particle with switching properties, quantum computations (see previously) could quickly become very robust. More from Popular Mechanics at the link above.

8x8 (12. 103)

beige and confused: with the democratisation and de-fetishisation of graphic design, Elizabeth Goodspeed questions the role of Colour of the Year  

diamond in the rough: researchers perfect nuclear-powered battery that lasts ten-thousand years—see previously  

heroön: monumental ancient shire discovered in western Greece 

now go away or he will taunt you a second time: former Homeland Security advisor is not retracting her criticism of FBI director nominee Kash Patel—see previously  

naughty, brutish and short: philosophers on Santa’s good and bad lists

continuing resolution: the stop-gap spending bill to fund the US government through March hints at a revolt by Republican congressional members, refusing to entertain provisions to eliminate the debt ceiling (which Trump needs to enact his agenda) and postpones the budget battle to a time when the GOP has a even narrower majority  

demonstration project: MIT-linked charter company plans world-first grid-scale fusion reactor 

party city holdco inc: with every report on a company going bankrupt, there are at least four paragraphs citing inflation, consumer sentiment and competition before mentioning it was private equitied to death

operation mhchaos (12.102)

Hired by the New York Times in 1972 to compete the scoop of the Watergate scandal by the Washington Post, the first big headline by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh for the paper (having previously exposed the cover-up of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and American participation in the overthrow of the Chilean government the year prior) broke on this day in 1974, in the Times Sunday Edition, revealing that the US Central Intelligence Agency had turned its gaze inward against its jurisdiction and was conducting a massive covert domestic spying operation on anti-war protestors, wire-tapping the phones of tens of thousands of US citizens and infiltrating groups. Operation CHAOS was originally chartered under the administration of Lyndon B Johnson in 1967 but was greatly expanded by Nixon even after initial findings indicated no link between prominent peace movements and foreign embassies in the US or abroad—the prefix MH designated the area of operation to be global—and this secret redux of McCarthyism, given Nixon’s deportment, proved highly unpalatable to the public. Although ending the programme, Hersh felt betrayed after subsequently learning of secret meetings between the Ford administration and the editors that censored material, including political assassinations never disclosed to the reporter, prompting Hersh to distance himself from investigating the agency in the future.

synchronoptica

one year ago: an AI Nativity (with synchronoptica), a monumental Beethoven debut, a cloned feline plus another Tennessee Williams’ classic (1965)

seven years ago: Ockham’s razor and aliens plus assorted links to revisit

eight years ago: a wrap of archaeological discoveries plus the Jedism in the UK fails to be recognised as a religion

 

nine years ago: more links to enjoy

 

ten years ago: K-12 Jesus, Club Mate plus an Italian Christmas witch

11x11 (12. 101)

boughs of holly: a gallery of Edwardians dressed up as Christmas trees—via the Everlasting Blört  

gifcities: the Internet Archive’s gallery of vintage animations  

hb3: Pornhub is pulling out of Florida over a new law that requires age verification on adult websites with a government issued form of identification—don’t say you weren’t warned

diplomatic corps: Trump pre-appoints a slew of woefully unqualified ambassadors  

superman is bleeding: the teaser trailer for the new cinematic adaptation 

neolithic octopoid: revisiting the Silurian hypothesis through cephalopods—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest  

by-line: Pulitzer’s year in news stories  

perfect fit content: Spotify ghosts human artist, avoiding royalties 

the campaign for economic democracy: Jane Fonda’s political action committee was funded through sales of Workout, inspired by serial presidential candidate and entrepreneur Lyndon LaRouche  

a court of thorns and roses: sexual congress with supernatural beings is illegal in Sweden—via Strange Company 

retrospective: around the world in the exhibitions of 2024 

and the blue and silver candles that would just have matched the hair on grandma’s wig: Postmodern Jukebox’ take (previously) on a reviled holiday tune

achtung baby! (12. 100)

Via JWZ, we are directed to this piece by Wonkette contributor Gary Legum with the brilliant and crucial preamble: “Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: a bigoted industrialist who owns a giant car company has endorsed a far-right German political party full of Nazis that aims to purify Europe by casting out groups of people it considers to be its lessers, if not downright subhuman. Ha ha, no, it’s not Henry Ford, but we sure fooled you.” Of course Legum is referring to the cosplay Darlek shadow president space Karen, who fresh off his latest foray into trying to influence the US congress is now sparking outrage after endorsing AfD ahead of Germany’s snap elections. Musk has launched trial balloons before in international matters in inciting rioters in Britain, criticising Italy’s immigration policy and presaged by his turning Twitter into a Nazi bar. Those aligned with Alternative für Deutschland, including party co-chair Alice Weidel, who plans to campaign for chancellor, were ecstatic over this boosterism from the American oligarchy. What does Germany need saving from? The United States reelected an authoritarian, which was risible the first time, and quoth Marx, “history repeats itself first by tragedy second by farce.”

solstice (12. 099)

Also referred to as the Southern Solstice not to privilege the Northern Hemisphere (see previously, see below) when the Sun pivots directly over the Tropic of Cancer, marking the shortest and longest day of the year depending on one’s climes, at the extremes nearest the poles in the Baltics and Russia there are zero hours of daylight as compared to fifteen plus in Australia, Oceania and South America, NPR has a list of suggestions for observing this change in seasons occurring today from the Stonehenge live-feed, special concerts to sampling traditions and customs (see more) from around the globe plus tips for a little self-care as we cannot opt just to hibernate this time out. 

 synchronoptica

one year ago:  Midwinter Night traditions (with synchronoptica), Strange Paradise plus Christmas cards from Dan Quayle

seven years ago: Trump moves the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, what do you call a world that can’t learn from itself, a sleek sedan plus no more email signature blocks with motivational quotations

eight years ago: assorted links to enjoy, Christingle plus the VR experience

nine years ago: a new HTTP status code that calls out censorship plus the sewers of Wiesbaden

ten years ago: the Russian rouble and the Dutch Disease plus 2014 in review

justizvollzugsanstalt (12. 098)

Released under clemency conditions from the Landsberg prison complex outside of Munich from his confinement for participation in the attempted coup on this day in 1924, Bürgerbräu Putsch, of the government of the Weimar Republik, Adolf Hitler (previously) used his incarceration to dictate Mein Kampf to his deputy Rudolf Hess. Following the war, the facility was a holding area of war criminals during the Nuremberg Prozess and as early as the establishment of West Germany in 1949 and the abolishment of the death penalty there was a push for reformation and rehabilitation with the prison today being run as a progressive correctional facility with job training for basic vocations.

let’s run and we’ll have some fun now before i melt away (12. 097)

Via Clive Thompson’s latest Linkfest (much more to explore there), we learn about the 1987 commission of the Römerbrücke thermal power station, Heizkraftwerk Saarbrücken, to create a never-melting snowman sustained by the excess energy from the plant. Awarded to Swiss multi-media artistic duo David Weiss and Peter Fischili (see previously) for the concept of Schneemann, they formed a copper skeleton inside a refrigerated unit that’s renewed by frost and freezer burn, metaphorically a commentary on the climate crisis in the corporate campus of this power plant, but still needing a routine human-touch to limn his face.

synchronoptica

one year ago: dial-a-song (with synchronoptica), Trump banned from the primary ballot plus assorted links to revisit

seven years ago: a political sorting hat, the 2017 in pictures plus an innovative funicular railway

eight years ago: Yule Lads plus Russian meddling and American exceptionalism

nine years ago: 2015 in review plus a Christmas humbug

twelve years ago: 2012 in review

stop-gap (12. 096)

A month prior to taking office at the end of the Biden administration, Trump and his unelected lieutenants are already bringing upheaval and chaos by cowing Congress in not allowing the legislature to vote on a carefully crafted, bipartisan funding measure that would have kept the government running through March (effectively punting the budget fight to the midpoint of new administration’s first hundred days and an onerous distraction from the MAGA team’s barn-burning agenda) that the Speaker of the House agreed to bring to the chamber’s floor, a pared-down version hastily put together failing to pass. Using his platform and influence, Musk argues that no bill should be passed prior to the inauguration and the US government will shut down on midnight Friday—see previously. Non-essential employees will be furloughed and most services suspended, and whilst House Republicans are working to draft another version without buy in from the Democrats without compromise no bill will be able to pass the Senate. This campaign of terror is ostensibly another tactic in the quiver of the Department of Government Efficiency to illustrate who could be made redundant, closing shop over the holidays with no guarantee of restored pay.

bittersweet symphonie (12. 095)

The culmination of a formal joint West German-French collaboration, the first constellation of European communications satellites (see previously) was launched into orbit on this day in 1974 from Cape Canaveral atop a Delta rocket, with the stipulation that this would only be a demonstration project and not be fully operational in order for the US to protect its monopoly. The triad of retractable solar cell booms and thrusters to stabilise orbit and repositioning were the first time such innovations, now standards, were put to use. The impositions restricted commercial use but satellites could beam educational programming, primarily from Deutsche Welle to India and Africa as well as news concern Red Cross relief missions. Considered unacceptable, the embargo led to the development of Europe’s domestic Ariane rocket for future enterprises. Symphonie I and Symphonie II, launched the following August, we decommissioned and deorbited on this anniversary in 1984, exceeding their original mission by five years.

the year in memes (12. 094)

Hyperalleric curates a collection of the best viral shared images that sought to dull or cushion (a big ask from any inanimate object pushed beyond its breaking point by the harshness of the past twelve months) by trying to forge some connection and temporary reprieve in a landscape of atrocities, violence, degradation and disappointment. The chronology, which feels like a million years ago, include the Willy’s Chocolate Experience, the presidential debates, coconut tree/brat summer, that baby hippopotamus and the public beatification of Luigi Mangione, which sets the stage for the coming year rather perfectly. Much more from contributor Rhea Nayyar at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: ransomware shutters a library (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit 

seven years ago: an exhibition on knots plus more links to enjoy

eight years ago: more needful words from The Meaning of Liff

ten years ago: gut flora, the history of chess plus an unreleased parody of North Korea

eleven years ago: the grammar of comic strips

 

project score (12. 093)

The first purpose-built communications satellite, abbreviation fore Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment) was launched on this day in 1958 atop an Atlas rocket and provided a follow up demonstration to broadcasts from space. Regarded as an advancement that brought the American space programme on par with the Soviet accomplishments of Sputnik I and Sputnik II, showing that messages could be transmitted through the upper atmosphere across multiple round stations. Albeit pre-recorded, Project SCOPE also delivered a Christmas greeting from US president Eisenhower (see previously), the first voice from space, capturing global attention. Like the signal from Sputnik, it could be picked up by sufficiently sensitive radios worldwide but most heard the message on news re-broadcasts.  After circling the Earth twelve times, the orbit degraded and the satellite burned up on re-entry.

「金」 (12. 092)

The Japanese Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation has announced their character of the year as kin, meaning gold or money, to capture the state of the world, and as in past years stretching back to 1995 with the proficiency society with the popular choice writ large by the head priest at the Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto on Kanji Day (12 December—see previously), the testing-body also an examine on twelve levels to assess one’s general literacy.

city不city (12. 091)

Sixth Tone has announced its Chinese language buzzwords that defined this past year (see previously) with the above dominating question, translating, “city or not”—cosmopolitan, sophisticated, the viral phenomenon illustrated below, which demonstrates how seamlessly loan words can be incorporated into the language’s structure. Other shortlisted neologisms include yìng kòng (硬控, pinned in place) borrowed from stalemate and the gaming world as an arresting rubber-necking and the inescapable allure of trending items, bān wèi (班味, office stench) to address that lingering malaise that comes from toil at a job that is not ideal, tōu găn (偷感, thief vibes) used to describe an individual whose definition of oversharing is different from their cadre and introduced as a shorthand for the preoccupation with MBTI personality profiles (see previously here and here), 淡人 vs 浓人 (dàn rén and nóng rén, introverted versus extroverted)—also expressed with 😐/😝. More at the links above.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: Pope decrees that blessings can be given to same-sex couples (with synchroptica), machine embodiment plus a special deck of playing cards

seven years ago: the Status Quo Ladder plus elevator operators are not extinct careerwise

eight years ago: gemstone batteries plus Spain reconsiders the siesta

nine years ago: emergency lights, weird antique Christmas greetings plus assorted links worth revisiting

ten years ago: Christmas markets past plus the paternalistic nature of the Internet of Things

startpaket (12. 090)

Two weeks ahead of the introduction of the new currency, the mints of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union began on this day in 2001 to distribute starter kits of coinage in Greece, Portugal and Germany in order to familiarise citizens and cashiers in advance of their upcoming €-Day (see previously, see also). With a face value of 10,23 or 20 DM, five thousand drachma or two thousand escudo, around fifty-four million sealed plastic sachets were given out through local banks. Having moved to Germany just after the transition that took place on New Year’s 2002, I remember it being a strange time with the sentiment that prices had doubled overnight—or one’s worth suddenly halved—and many retail outlets were still in the process of changing over, accepting both Mark and US dollars at parity.

the haves and have yachts (12. 089)

Via tmn, we are directed to a brief chronology of the superyacht (its definition and the more exclusive class of gigayacht) and how that history corresponds with the larger world of oligarchy and status, beginning with (of course with acknowledged antecedents) shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis’ Christina O, a surplus Canadian anti-submarine frigate purchased in 1954 and outfitted with swimming pool that could be converted into a dance floor an appointed with furnishing crafted from the leather of whale foreskin and pornographic scenes from the Odyssey carved in whale teeth. Only keeping it for three years, the Trump Princess is flipped to another Saudi prince in 1991 after one of the previous owner’s casinos went bankrupt. A boasted new yacht, the Trump Princess II, which will be “something in excess of four hundred feet long—closer to five hundred feet” fails to materialise. There are dozens of other data points and anecdotes to consider on how that unattainable lifestyle informs the everyday reality of us all.

not my name (12. 088)

Via the always interesting quantum of sollazzo data newsletter, we are directed towards a fascinating project exploring the complexity of Chinese personal and family names and the challenges of Pinyin romanisation (see previously), which whilst creating name recognition for a global audience, creates ambiguities in the simplification, leaving out tonal qualities and how multiple characters can share the same transliteration. Over thirteen million individuals have Ma as a surname but it sourced from either 马, 吗 or less commonly 麻 (others have dozens of possibility occurring in the population) depending on stress, intonation and of course carry deeper meaning and associations—etymological and familial—than what can be conveyed in the Pinyin and comparable systems. Explore more on onomastics and naming conventions at the links above and hear examples of pronunciation that can vary widely and are quite distinct.

synchronoptica

one year ago: On the Beach (1959) with synchronoptica

seven years ago: youthquake plus molten salt reactors

eight years ago: Ottoman fairy tales, assorted links worth revisiting, railway competition, a lesson on euphemisms plus signs of the year

nine years ago: more links to enjoy, a special Jedi holiday service plus comparative cinematography 

ten years ago: biological burps on Mars, the Becker of St Hedwig plus Christmas Colorforms

l’ultima cena nell’arte (12. 087)

Fellow internet caretake and accomplished docent, Weird Universe, treats us to a grand tour of a museum in the border town of Douglas, Arizona that showcases collection of its curator of works inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic masterpiece, The Last Supper (see also). With interpretations ranging from the devotional to the irreverent, skewing to sci-fi and pop cultural with an array of items in place of Jesus and the apostles, it looks like a fun exhibition to visit. We liked this more traditional depiction from a different perspective showing a sleeping dog on the floor. Much more at the links above.

11x11 (12. 086)

top fifty: a review of the biggest literary stories of 2024—including the Brontë sisters getting their diaeresēs 

we all live in the ruins of the rot economy: a long-read about the abusive and exploitative ways that the tech industry treats people at scale—see previously  

bottle episode: the amazing dioramas of folk artist Carl Worner—via Messy Nessy Chic 

emporia: Kottke’s 2024 gift guide  

chirality: scientists warn strongly against research into synthetic biology and “mirror life”—compare to the handedness of thalidomide

do not obey in advance: in agreeing to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump, the network is courting further nuisance claims over critical coverage, forgetting the first lesson of On Tyranny 

body-horror: an AI-generated impossible gymnastic routine 

velben goods: premium and surge-pricing 

sovereign citizens brigade: group in England claiming extrajudicial standing tried to kidnap county coroner, accusing the officer of the Crown of necromancy   

the network effect: social media fire-exits 

home box office: the cable network’s December 1982 previews

an irwin allen production (12. 085)

Premiering on this day in 1974, the disaster film (see previously) directed by John Guillermin (King Kong, The Bridge at Remagen) and featuring the all-star ensemble cast including Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Dabney Coleman, Richard Chamberlain and OJ Simpson had the highest grossing domestic box-office of the year and would go on to win numerous awards, among them the Academy Award for Best Music, scored by John Williams with the Oscar going to duo Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for “We May Never Love Like This Again” who also collaborated for “The Morning After”—see above. The plot involves the return of a prize-winning architect to over see the dedication of the mixed-used skyscraper—at just over five hundred metres, the world’s tallest—in San Francisco. Concerns over potentially dangerous inadequacies in the electrical work by a subcontractor are ignored and the gala continues in the building’s Promenade Room, one hundred thirty five storeys above street level. As the male leads all wanted top-billing (see also), credits were staggered for posters and promotional material.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: façadism plus the art of Patrick Nagel

eight years ago: Sylvester Stallone to head the US National Endowment for the Arts, the microseasons of Japan, the EU’s headquarters plus recreating ancient soundscapes

nine years ago: an appreciation of the Galactic Empire’s bureaucracy

ten years ago: a feature length painted film about van Gogh plus the Witch of Endor

vexing vexillology (12. 084)

Via Web Curios, we very much appreciated, as an enthusiastic vexillophile, the chance to return to a favourite topic of national standards and iconography in this survey and analysis of flag design elements. Compared by colour distribution and proportion, they all can look alike—or by dent of dominate layouts—but what was most fascinating about this project was a chart of tracked-changes, revealing that the US flag had an unrivalled thirty-six
iterations (we suppose that most aren’t updated for incorporated territories) as contrasted with Germany’s ten or the second-place Afghanistan’s twenty-four, flag age (Denmark is the veteran) as a history lesson or this sort of periodic table that shows where unclaimed terra nullius could rise to statehood. Recursively, the above banner with a weaver’s hitch (or/azure) is the flag of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations, from vexillum, a type of square ensign for the Roman calvary which was coined for the study of flags—separate from heraldic scholarship—in 1957 by Whitney Smith, and encyclopaedist and graphic designer who contributed to the Guyana, Aruba and many newly independent, formerly colonial territories as well as a flag for Antarctica.

lame duck session (12. 083)

A host of contributors to a New York Times editorial piece have some good and intriguing suggestions for what US president Joe Biden might do between now and noon 20 January—“this winter of peril and possibility”—including crucial and meaningful stances on the death sentences of federal inmates, which could be commuted, the pardoning of those convicted of non-violent marijuana-related charges and even reclassifying cannabis (presently lumped with far more danger substance like heroine) in a move towards national legalisation and protecting more vulnerable federal lands. The most interesting proposal involves the certification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would enshrine it in the constitution, and could be done under the president’s direction having satisfied the high hurdles for changing the supreme governing guidance. Originally drafted and introduced to congress in December of 1923, the brief and straightforward proposal explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex (believing that the IXX. Amendment guaranteeing universal suffrage was not enough to extend equality to other domains and counter arguments through the decades were based on the premise that men and women were already equal enough) and was eventually approved by both houses of the legislature in 1972. The other requirement to be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states had inertia throughout the 1970s but waned afterwards, just falling short—only meeting and surpassing the benchmark in 2020 motivated by Trump’s first term and his supreme court appointments. The judiciary blocked its inclusion at the time, arguing spurious that they failed to enact the proposed amendment within the established timeframe, though that expostulation had already been proved false. The passage of the ERA could protect reproductive rights though opposition would be strong and there is an alternative legal framework for its (or any other express value’s) undoing.

synchronoptica

one year ago: terrestrial radio broadcasts silenced to listen to Mars in 1924 (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: Halcyon days, assorted links worth revisiting, gadgets to match your volume plus an AI names bird species

eight years ago: a meme-based annual, the US electoral college votes plus medieval tableaux found in the church of Stratford-upon-Avon

nine years ago: break-away polities in Ukraine, the real Vitruvian Man plus Albert Kahn photographs the world

ten years ago: guard donkeys, humanising the gods, PEGIDA protests plus a camper trailer for a bicycle

9x9 (12. 082)

blame on the whiskey: DJ Earworm’s 2024 wrapped  

nhtsa: Trump transition team recommends scrapping crash reporting regulations with Tesla among the biggest offender for car-related fatalities—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

swaddling clothes: removal of a keffiyeh from a creche at the Vatican demonstrates how Nativity Scenes are never neutral  

flashpoint: charting possible frontlines on the continent if Russia pushes further on the NATO alliance  

as above, so below: the ensemble of pyramids of the Giza complex have eight sides, visible only during the equinoxes 

theatre of thought: Werner Herzog contemplates the nature of the mind in his latest documentary  

big band: Glenn Miller’s 1944 disappearance without a trace is an enduring aviation mystery, second to Amelia Earhart’s  

ka$h patel: FBI director’s resignation may hinder Trump loyalist’s succession as head of the bureau 

there ain’t no us in the private trust: a folk protest song about the state of American healthcare