4x4

yavin 4: a graphic designer from New Zealand designed flags for one hundred planets of the Star Wars expanded universe

hang low the mistletoe: an appreciation of the parasitic plant whose Yuletide tradition is probably its least interesting attribute

oracle bones: Quartz furnishes an engrossing account of the historical development of Chinese writing and the language’s font foundry

non-canon: the next Star Trek film will treat the last as apocryphal

ghost of christmas weird

Dangerous Minds curates a truly bizarre gallery of antique Christmas greetings cards, gathered from various sources, whose message and associations with cheer and the season are rather—through the filter of a given vintage—lost on modern audiences.
There’s Krampus, of course, who’s a much greater deterrent to naughtiness than a lump of coal—which I’d wager that some Victorian street urchin would be very grateful to receive, but beyond this cautionary example these salutations are just fraught with surreal imagery—duelling frogs, dead sparrows, revolting sparrows, murderous emus and polar bears. What’s truly classic is universal and enduring (kittens, perhaps) and maybe these cards illustrate the consequences of things passing out of style and humour becoming obsolete. Be sure to check out Dangerous Minds to pursue the full selection.

klaxon or blues and twos

I vaguely recall learning that emergency response vehicles—ambulances, fire-trucks, police cruisers—in the States at least bore complementary flashing lights in red and blue to shine at the most visible spectrum both during the day and at night—though I could not remember which colour was best for either condition.
In Germany (and for the UK as well), those same beacons are just blue—arrayed for each kind of dispatch a bit differently with distinctive sirens but only on the one wave-length. If the two-coloured light system had a higher visibility profile—I wondered, why it had not been adopted everywhere. It turns out that the insight into the discernability of different spectra—which figures in traffic lights as well, and the reason for Germany’s blue lights date to 1938, like much of the German infrastructure—the Autobahn and the people’s coach. It does not have anything to do with psychological colour associations or some Doppler effect, but rather anticipating the possibility of air-raids as Europe once again began to take a belligerent posture, field-engineers experimented with different colours and discovered that while red lights sent up a beacon high into the atmosphere, attracting the attention of bomber-pilots, blue light dissipated at a much lower altitude. The convention, like equipping windows on homes with Rollladen (roller shutters) to effectively black out the lights, has endured.

parkour and pageant

Neatorama shares an interesting cinematic comparison, some blocked scene for scene of Quentin Tarantino’s extensive neo-noir filmography and the directing that was his inspiration. Far from producing derivative works, Tarantino and his repertory, company of actors, have become the subjects of study and inspiration themselves.

may the force be with you (and also with you)

Amid rumours and parallels some are wont to draw, saying that Jedis are prone to radicalisation like jihadists (I am covering my ears because I don’t want any come across any spoilers—and still to this day, I feel a pang of regret when I think how I spilled one of the surprises to a nurse while at a doctor’s appointment right after seeing Return of the Jedi and informing her that Luke and Leia were brother and sister), Atlas Obscura, with its signature daring-do, reports how for the Fourth Advent the Zionskirche in Berlin will host a special Star Wars service—like the Nine Lessons and Carols celebration that I attended last week, I suppose but with morals drawn from the saga. The accomplished organist will also of course be performing a selection of the film soundtrack.