your good and your evil use the same methods, achieve the same results (11. 674)

Bob Canada presents a highlight reel of some of the more bizarre images that the crew of the Enterprise saw on the ship’s viewscreen during the course of the original run of Star Trek: TOS, with their encounter with Space Lincoln in “The Savage Curtain” (S3:E22) with the super-intelligent rock-like Excliaban having created the presidential look-alike (along with a facsimile of the renowned Vulcan philosopher Surak) to better explore the concepts of good and evil, pitting these two upstanding figures against a cast of villains, including Genghis Khan and Klingon warlord Kahless with Kirk and Spock as seconds in the duel. Despite knowing that the great statesman is an artifice of matter-energy conversion, the Captain accords his personal hero with full honours upon boarding the ship.

synchronoptica

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

seven years ago: neutral facial posture plus the fall of Constantinople

eight years ago: Stephen Hawking’s stalker plus a short hiatus

nine years ago: absquatulate, cartoon tropes plus Freedomland, USA

ten years ago: peace vigils in Germany

olive branch petition (11. 673)

Signed following adoption by the Second Continental Congress on this day in 1775 after, formal request was last ditch effort to avoid open conflict between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies. The fact that the same group of delegates had just authorised the invasion of the Dominion of Canada and passage of the resolution titled the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms over the perception of parliament extending its influence across the Atlantic rather made its favourable reception unlikely despite its pledge of fealty to George III—the king refusing to read it and declaring the colonists traitorous. Interpreted as intransigence on the part of the British government—the signature page along with the rest of the missive in the US National archives features the prominent signature of John Hancock—it’s ignored read-receipt helped limn the choice for American settlers, entrenching a litany of grievances, and legitimising rebellion, informing Thomas Payne’s Common Sense. You say—the price of my love’s not a price that you’re willing to pay, you cry in your tea which hurl in the see when you see me go by. Why so sad?

shoestring budget (11. 672)

Via Miss Cellania, we are afforded a quite fascinating look at the 1948 London Games, the first Olympics held after Munich’s 1936 event and the marking their post-war resumption, which compared to the current expense and corporate sponsorship is not only remarkable for the level of thrift and resourcefulness—a make do and mend attitude with athletes stitching together their own uniforms and college campuses and military bases acting as the Olympic Village—but also how the spectacle was pulled off in the name of international sportsmanship and provided much needed relief with the fighting in fresh memory and rationing and austerity continuing for many.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: half the world in the sun (with synchronoptica)

eight years ago: proxemics plus machine mirages

nine years ago: a maths sleight of hand plus ghost malls and the Gruen Transfer

ten years ago: border security, home and abroad

eleven years ago: US-EU trade disputes

sondages de sortie (11. 671)

In a rather shockingly positive development, and despite a worrying fraught showing in the first round of voting, which however suggests that Macron made the correct tactical decision in calling for a snap election in the aftermath of the EU parliamentary run-offs which made his party’s mandate to govern seem to wither, France’s progressive alliance has kept the ascendant nationalist and far-right Rassemblement National at bay and beaten them back into third place overall and unable to secure a controlling majority. Though a triumph for democracy, the future composition of the French government however is far from clear as no single party has the seats to function outside of a collation and has a hung parliament (parlement suspendu).

de arte natandi (11. 670)

Via tmn, we are directed towards a survey of aquatic skills and refinements classically considered as a mark of functional literacy on par with being un-lettered by Plato as a sign of miseducation with the entrée of a water ballet performed by Benjamin Franklin in early summer of 1726 on the Thames, bucking the contemporary mindset that despite maritime adventuring that staying afloat was somehow taboo for a man overboard. Without managing to change conventional education, Cambridge theologian and avid swimmer Everard Digby (better known as a conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot) had propagated the embrace of swimming and lifeguarding in his late fifteen-hundreds treatise, though either centuries ahead of or millennia behind the times, as thermæ we condemned by Christian society, whether for healing, hygienic or hedonistic purposes, and was something to shun and fear with even buoyancy enough to earn the judgment of witchcraft.

kinesigraph (11. 669)

Public Domain Review contributor Irfan Shah revives the forgotten figure of Wordsworth Donisthorpe of Leeds—inventor, chess enthusiast, anarchist, linguist, social reformer and unrecognised pioneer of cinematography, only to fall behind the competition in Louis Le Prince and Thomas Edison. Though Donisthorpe’s career is punctuated with lamentable near successes and frustrating failures—which saw him turn to blackmail on more than one occasion but that did not produce a favourable outcome either—except as a posthumous postscript that connects Donisthrope, through his social outreach, to one of the early icons of the silver screen. Read more about the Kinesigraph patent, free love and his Latinate language reform attempts at the link up top.

7x7 (11. 668)

zungenbrecher: revisiting the topic of German tongue-twisters whose recitation challenges are also trending on the socials—via Language Hat  

nuts and bolts: hyperrealistic pencil-drawings of metallic objects by Kohei Ohmori  

heraclea sintica: a near-complete statue of Hermes discovered whilst excavating a Roman sewer in southwest Bulgaria 

murder by contract: Poseidon’s Underworld reviews the 1958, low-budget Vince Edwards vehicle  

ovocipede: a personal mobility vehicle conceived by Salvador Dalí  

game over: a stop-motion animation re-creates classic arcade game play with food and candy  

dawn chorus: explore morning birdsong from around the globe—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links (lots more to see there)

synchronoptica

one year ago: the first summer study abroad programme (plus synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: Trump and the press, more on still-lives plus superlative drone photography

eight years ago: the Iraq Inquiry

nine years ago: the taxonomy of Jorge Luis Borge plus assorted links to revisit

ten years ago: advertising hoardings that serve as shelters plus ISIS’ wanton destruction of cultural treasure

light as a feather (11. 667)

Going into general release in the USA on this day in 1994, admittedly I never watched the Robert Zemeckis adaptation of the Winston Groom novel that follows the life of the protagonist photobombing pivotal events of the twentieth century and recalling his story ignorant of their significance but never skipped it out of any ideological reason that I was aware of but rather that I missed the moment and it was already part of the Zeitgeist and could surmise, intuit it by enough popular references. I never appreciated however that the film was part of the ongoing values debate in America and limns a contentious divide for those who interpret the melodrama about being present as either a nostalgic glamorisation of conservative (and counter- counter-cultural) credentials or as a sweet as a box of chocolates but glib reduction of the most consequent decades of the mid-twentieth century.

,,someone german is talking“ (11. 666)

Having pondered the meanings and styles of bracket-use before, we appreciated this xkcd (previously) comic panel via Language Log. What other orthographic conventions do you know? 『Someone is talking Chinese』— A James Joyce [or Leo Tolstoi] character is talking. — ,, A Georgian person is talking” >A Usenet user is talking " ⠦A vision impaired individual is talking⠴ [sic] A pedant is talking [recte]

9x9 (11. 665)

won’t back down: Biden committed to remain his party’s candidate for the US presidential election

wall∙e: facing a labour shortage, Japan railways deploys a colossal humanoid robot to maintain train tracks  

conspiracy theory rock: the 1998 Saturday Night Live TV Funhouse cartoon that may or may have not been banned by the network  

if it’s so smart, why does it live like this: next version of ChatGPT has post-doctorate level intelligence and the poor life choices to back it up  

shadow secretary: the political upbringing of Sir Keir Starmer  

wish you were here: beforehand postcards to prepare prior to departing for vacation—see previously  

oberheim ob-1: a short documentary on the revolutionary analogue synthesiser that allowed musicians to record and save patches for playback  

a face to a name: researchers create life-like robotic skin to express emotion and self-healing from harvested juvenile foreskin cells  

dark brandon: Democrats backing Biden’s decision to run 

synchronoptica

one year ago: advice for urban day-trippers in the countryside (with synchronoptica)

eight years ago: gameifying one’s wellbeing

nine years ago: pushing Greece out of the EU plus assorted links to revisit

ten years ago: more dragnet surveillance 

eleven years ago: a history of fireworks 

never mind the ballots (11. 664)

In a welcome, refreshing bit of good news amid rather bleak outlooks for democracy in America with Trump given new dictatorial license, Biden encouraged to drop out of the race at this late stage and the rise of far-right in France, Labour bounces back after nearly a dozen years of Tory control of government, with the Conservative party trounced. Party leader Keir Starmer is appointed prime minister and forms a cabinet, and after the 4 July general election, many of the opposition, including members Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Jacob Rees-Moog and Liz Truss lost their seats in parliament when their home constituencies voted them out.

alpine passes ii (11. 663)

Reluctantly we headed back home after our adventures in Italy and Switzerland, this time consulting more local sources and news, discovered that the portion of the Swiss Autobahn washed away by a rockslide had in less than two weeks been made once again navigable for traffic with engineers incorporating material that had destroyed the roadway.

Navigation services had not yet cottoned onto the completed repairs and the way was notably clear and without congestion for the beginning of high season for the preferred San Bernardino Pass connecting Bellinzona with the Mesolcina Valley of the canton of Graubünden, the watersheds of the Po and Rhein river basins and high-road parallel to the ancient bridal path—mostly restricted to donkeys—known as Viamala (in Romansh, the bad route due to the treacherous nature of the gorge) and made open to wheeled conveyance to undercut Austrian-controlled trade.

This snapshot above was not an atypical Swiss highway rest stop with lowing cattle and cow-bells.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Nasty Boys (with synchronoptica), Tynwald Day on the Isle of Man, assorted links to revisit, the Tiny Web awards plus the pop-top can

seven years ago: an extra prosthetic thumb plus more on public education in America

eight years ago: what’s across the oceans, timber architecture, Olympic demands plus a giant radio telescope in China

nine years ago: a distraction for a hot day plus more links to enjoy

ten years ago: a game of geographic trivia

cascata della froda (11. 662)

Returning to the Castelvecca area, we took a nice stroll the the forest to see the waterfalls cascading from the top of Monte Cuvignone from a height of a hundred meters and carving out a space suggesting an amphitheater above the collecting pools.  

Along the trail through Montegrino-Valtravaglia, part of the fiefdom of il Quattro Valli, there is evidence of past use for aquaculture and raising trout with characteristic enclosures as well as the remains of an ancient stone quarry where petroglyphs have been recently discovered and are under study.

🥗 (11. 661)

On this day in 1924, the Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana by restaurateur of Italian-extract Caesar Cardini, from Baveno on the shores of Lago Maggiore, in his eponymous dining establishment. Caught unprepared by the large number of Americans crossing the border to legally purchase liquor otherwise unavailable during Prohibition for the long holiday weekend, Cardini improvised to stretch his food supply by mixing a large salad in the middle of the main dining hall, making due with what he had a surplus of on hand with the addition of tableside tossing by the proprietor for some dramatic flair. Several food columnists and Julia Child, who sampled the original sometime in the 1920s, helped popularise the dish whose reputation proceeded it, with the latter celebrity chef helping to codify the recipe with the help of Cardini’s daughter in the 1970s, romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, black pepper, Dijon mustard, anchovies (substituting capers and tahini for a vegetarian version) and Parmesan cheese. 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the US national anthem (with synchronoptica), David Bowie’s trans-Siberia railway journey plus Uncle Sam’s predecessor

seven years ago: a botched memorial

eight years ago: a space probe arrives in Jupiter’s orbit plus the chemistry of a candle

nine years ago: pyrotechnic effects 

ten years ago: hyper-capitalism plus anti-migrant sentiment

maccagno inferiore (11. 660)

We took a nice stroll through the village and explored the oldest part of the settlement with the Oratorium Madonna della Punta, a sanctuary with grottoes at the head of the old harbour. 

A path around the road tunnel at the beginning of the city crossed over the street and continued into the maze of alleyways and picturesque residences that formed around the core of the imperial tower and mint (Zecca). 

We got a little lost in the passageways but eventually found our way and returned via the promenade along the beach, the weather turning stormy again and the water roiling with waves.

 

synchronoptica

 

one year ago: superlative drone photos (with synchronoptica), Ziggy Star-Dust retires, assorted links to revisit plus composer Ligeti

 

seven years ago: farming brackish land plus election integrity commissions

 

eight years ago: more links to enjoy, more recycled calendars, machine made logos plus the socio-economics of Star Wars vs Star Trek

 

nine years ago: philosopher Avicenna, even more links worth revisiting plus the American Revolution framed as a mistake

 

ten years ago: shifting contractions

maccagno superiore (11. 659)

Slowly scaling the mountain rising behind our lakefront campsite, we were afford some amazing views and walked the path around Lago Delio, a reservoir first constructed in 1911 and dammed in the 1960s for hydroelectric power. 

The trail was nice but one could not get too close to the water and continued upwards to the top of Monte Cadrigna and the alpine pass at Forcora. 

It would be an equivocation to say we had climbed the mountain but did trek the last fee hundred metres along the gondola stanchions to the summit for a really breathtaking look at Lago Maggiore’s expanse from two sides.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus a miscellany of Americana

eight years ago: a cancelled vacation

nine years ago: artist Peter Max, fantasy politics plus bans on yoga

ten years ago: diplomatic blackmail 

eleven years ago: check-out line etiquette plus dragnet surveillance

clearing the docket (11. 658)

Along the expected ideological lines, the US supreme court has ruled that the president, past, present and future, are entitled to the presumption of immunity from prosecution for any official acts—but not in an unofficial capacity, however that is defined. Refusing to rule on what constitutes what falls within the high office holder‘s scope of practise and remanding that judgment to a lower court—such as stoking insurrection or ordering a vendetta on political rivals—guarantees that no further criminal proceedings will be carried out against candidate Trump prior to the election and nullifies potential consequences as a reinstated individual can halt and reverse the proceedings. The experiment become cult of personality and vanity project that was American democracy seems to have been quickly regressed from a republic to an absolute monarchy and repressive theocracy with precious few transition points.

castelli di bellinzona (11. 657)

Returning to Ticino, we visited the UNESCO World Heritage site, the ensemble of fortifications, of the cantonal capital and strategically important location occupied and defended since Neolithic times as the place where several Swiss rivers converge and near the Alpine passes of San Bernardino, San Gottardo and Lukmanier, and maintaining hold of Bellinzona meant control of traffic and trade between northern Europe and the Mediterranean. 

 

It was not however until the reign of Augustus in the first century that a stronghold was built on the rocky outcropping in the middle of the city, and while the garrison was neglected for several hundred years, Castelgrande was expanded into its present form as the defence of Helvetia under Diocletian and Constantine.  Under Frankish rule in the 700s, the second castle, Montebello, was constructed as a chain of watchtowers and as part of expansionist

ambitions of the Duchy of Milan, the third and highest, Sasso Corbaro, was added in the sixteen century with reinforcement on the lower existing structures, and is now a symbol of Swiss unity and identity.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a venerable Viennese newspaper folds (with synchronoptica)

six years ago: negotium and otium

seven years ago: an AI names cats, moss walls, the Tour de Trump plus the Hong Kong transfer of sovereignty (1997)

eight years ago: on listicles plus the fantastic illustrations of François Schuiten

nine years ago: West Germany’s NATO accession (1955), grail candidates plus assorted links to enjoy