cross-roads

Though I can’t say for certain that many hikers will cross our path, we discovered that our new home, remote and rather secluded as it is, lies just behind the intersection of two of the European Long Distance Routes (the nearest point of reference shared by both trails is the City of Coburg), marked and maintained hiking paths that follows ancient trade and pilgrimage routes. From north to south, one stretches from Lapland through Finland and Sweden through Germany and Austria to the Adriatic coast, and from west to east, the other spans from Spain following el Camino de Santiago (der Jakobsweg) through France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic onto the shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria. What an amazing journey to embark on and to think we are at if not the centre-point at least a nexus of sorts.

may Easter joys be yours

machinalia

Thanks to the always fabulous Everlasting Blört, we are introduced to the illustrations of Boris Artzybasheff (1899-1965) whose grotesques of anthropo- morphised machines as self-toiling beings with distinctly human traits—though suspiciously cheerful, like cartoon depictions of happy and obliging livestock. Find more of Artzybashneff’s Machinalia at the links above, though keen-eyed, long-time readers may have come across his artwork here before with inventor and engineer Buckminster Fuller portrayed as one of his own signature geodesic domes.

wokey the bear

Via the ever inspiring Nag on the Lake comes a series of prints based on the original US National Parks promotional posters produced as a part of the federal arts offensive of the Works Progress Administration—except that Hannah Rothstein’s work shows what the fate of these treasured places will be if nothing is done to halt and reverse climate change. It’s a bit bleak but there’s hope yet, since if we work together and are truly committed, this vision is not an inevitable one.

with all the frills upon it

Not to attribute any redeeming qualities to the regime’s First Trumpet, but it turns out that while serving as assistant US trade representative for media and public affairs under the administration of Bush II, he volunteered as assistant to the Easter Bunny multiple times. This fact, I think, makes it all the more incredulous that no one thought to make any arrangements for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll until the last minute—which makes me a little sad that some kids will get to miss out on the experience but also a little gleeful that Dear Leader and his repulsive family don’t get another platform, especially on the back of a holiday.