In a statement delivered amid the sonic booms of Israeli fighter jets conducting mock air raids in the skies over Beirut and actual strikes on the southern border, Hizbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah addressed for the first time publicly the coordinated denotations of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies Tuesday and Wednesday that killed three dozen supposed operatives and seriously maimed thousands as low-tech communication devices exploded in orchestra after receiving the trigger signal at the same time. 
Israeli intelligence manufactured and distributed the rigged handheld pagers through a series of Taiwanese and Hungarian shell companies beginning in 2022 once it surmised that Hizbollah were avoiding cell phones for fear that their messages could be intercepted, and whilst this surprise simultaneous assault is arguably more targeted and discriminating than the bloodshed in Gaza, the injuries sustained happened in public, in the markets and in traffic and not on individuals actively carrying out the business of the organisation, in violation of the on prohibition on landmines and similar traps, causing mass panic and overwhelming Lebanon’s and Syria’s emergency care infrastructure. Potentially six thousand of people could have been killed all at once in this unprecedent attack. Nasrallah called the sabotage an act of war, vowing to keep fighting until aggression in Palestine ends. Though not acting during the immediate chaos, Israel is committing to this “new phase” of the war in order to return settlers to the north of the country on the countries’ disputed border region and the occupied Golan Heights.
Thursday, 19 September 2024
blue line, red line (11. 855)
getting to philosophy (11. 854)
Reminiscent of other connections and daisy chains discovered in the linkages in the growing universe of articles, following the first hyperlink in the main text of a Wikipedia entry (in English at least) and 
repeating the process for subsequent pages will bring one ultimately to the article on the love of wisdom and the process of critical inquiry, some ninety-seven percent of the time, with the small remainder consisting of orphaned topics or a self-referencing tautologies. This phenomenon may be due to the recommended style of contributing and editing and points to a certain hierarchy of taxia. Because of the changing nature of online encyclopaedia, the number of steps it takes to arrive a philosophy can vary from day to day, sixteen paces from apple juice to the discipline and it would be interesting to see the outliers that take the most jumps. More from Open Culture at the link above.
the sammies (11. 853)
Via tmn, we learn of the awards ceremony hosted by the US Partnership for Public Service that acknowledges the seen and unnoticed efforts by contentious bureaucrats of the federal government, who many are presently reviling as the Deep State. 
Named for the late benefactor Samel J Heyman, businessman and philanthropist who encouraged recent graduates to pursue a career in government, the gala has been hosted annually during the first week in October in Washington, DC and a selection committee of journalists, politicians, educators and corporate executives nominates individuals in the categories of emerging leaders, citizen services, science and the environment and safety, security and international affairs plus employee of the year out of the pool of the two-and-a-half million who work for America’s largest employer. The awards ceremony is surprising moving and deserving of its monicker as the Oscars of government work.
synchronoptica
one year ago: rotating ramen (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: a sanctuary of internet freedom, navel-gazing, antique Japanese hoardings, bacterial phages fight tumours plus more unbuilt architecture
eight years ago: more on the pioneers of Information Theory
ten years ago: more on Scottish secession
eleven years ago: the US debt ceiling
Wednesday, 18 September 2024
10x10 (11. 852)
analogical harmony: Edwin Babbit’s Principles of Light and Colour (1878)
riding the rails: a guide to a cross-country trip on America’s Amtrak
world level zero: how well travelled are you—see previously
porifera: an appreciation of the barely understood sea sponge
me and my aero: one inventor invented both the flying ring frisbee and an innovative coffee press—via Kottke
type tuesday: Microsoft’s new default font (see previously here and here) and more typographical briefs
the cry of cthuthu: Poseidon’s Underworld reads the July 1979 anniversary issue of Starlog—see previously
small world: kinetic microphotography captures biological processes and microbes in never-before-seen ways
road trip: charting the longest possible drivable distance through Eurasia
come up off your colour chart: Taylor Swift lyrical swatches
synchronoptica
one year ago: faithless electors (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: the stage play that coined race plus a legitimising veneer for populist prejudice
eight years ago: a visit to the Hessen Landtag
ten years ago: Roman emperor Hadrian
eleven years ago: a photographic scavenger hunt in Leipzig plus gifting votes
Tuesday, 17 September 2024
anywho (11. 851)
Usually used in the sense of regardless or it is what it is, quand mรชme has a range of meanings from acknowledging to dismissing an obstacle to interjection and emphasis—as well as a filler to signal that one is gathering their thoughts. We especially liked the nuance of the phrase’s rhetorical function—outcome deferred to suggest that one’s interlocutor probably does not have a good plan or acknowledging grรขce salvatrice despite of one’s designs or execution. It hits all the definitions of utility of communication between sender and receiver: reference (context), poetic (coding, sloganising), emotive (hortatory), conative (imperative or invitational), phatic (salutary signals) and the metalingualtic, reflecting on the words themselves. I suppose a lot of words, especially spoken ones, admit this level of plasticity.
synchronoptica
one year ago: Outward Bound (with synchronoptica), German Star Trek plus assorted links worth revisiting
seven years ago: nostalgia and whataboutism plus I spy with my little AI
ten years ago: exploring the Baltic
twelve years ago: a series on music and rembrance
Monday, 16 September 2024
semi-obscure, guilty pleasure, cultural punchline (11. 850)
Planet Money directs us to an engrossing cross-over podcast episode from 99% Invisible on the fast-food enterprise that was singly responsible for the phenomena of the chain restaurant with its often copied by but no means faithfully reproduced White Castle System of Eating Houses, which was able to overcome a strong public aversion to the idea of eating ground beef—in patty form as a hamburger—directly 
attributable to the influential work by Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, about the unsanitary business of meat-packing by establishing a rigid regime of uniformity for its eateries, instilling assurance in customers with consistency and cleanliness through a range of programming and marketing. Though not as celebrated as another chain that opened later in the same city, White Castles first opened in Wichita, Kansas in the 1920s and expanded regionally to other college and factory towns but its innovation and legacy was overtaken by second-wave imitators usually given credit for the business model with their more aggressive expansion propelled by car-culture, restaurants built not in urban centres but along highways and byways, and franchising, something that the family-owned business never did lest the experience and reputation be sullied by out-sourcing the name. Whilst a bit of an insult for the misattribution of globalisation, in terms of menu and McWorld, White Castle has cultivated a different definition of success and has built a loyal fandom.
synchronoptica
one year ago: an old school webring (with synchronoptica) plus a logic-based constructed language
seven years ago: the Ig Noble Prize plus Big Tech to disrupt the corner shop
eight years ago: subway etiquette plus no assembly required 3D printed machines
eleven years ago: navigating new technology plus the problem with biometrics
twelve years ago: the Pope in Lebanon
Sunday, 15 September 2024
rough draft (11. 849)
The note taking app (I wonder a bit about the necessity and utility of this feature in the first place) introduced by Google this past year has an experimental mode that will generate a podcast hosted by a pair
high hats and arrow collars, white spats and lots of dollars (11. 848)
Although originally founded on Washington, DC’s F Street in 1867 in the capital’s shopping district, the luxury department store solidified its reputation on this day in 1924 with the opening of its flagship store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, next to St Patrick’s Cathedral, made possible by its merger with the Gimbel Brothers, Inc. (both chains founded by Bavarian immigrants). Ten other metropolitan retail sites were opened over the decades with seasonal boutiques operating in executive resorts and universities before turning suburban malls, then to catalogue sales, e-commerce and factory outlets.
inspeccionando las tropas (11. 847)
Via Super Punch, we discover Mexico’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum, visiting one of the country’s military academies and addressing an audience of cadets and alumni ahead of her inauguration ceremony scheduled for next month. 
Though by far the most interesting story is victory of this progressive individual with little significant dispute from her competition and the peaceable transfer of power, but the venue is also worth noting with those hulking modern buildings that look like something built by the Galactic Empire, the Heroico Colegio Militar’s Tlalpan central campus, completed in 1976. Located just south of the capital, it was designed by famed sculptor, poet and architect Agustรญn Hernรกndez Navarro, recognised internationally for his monumental and futuristic ensembles, with references to pre-Columbian heritage, the Brutalist abstraction of the main hall is meant to invoke the Mayan god of rain Chaahk, also associated with warfare.
entspannt und achtsam (11. 846)
Labelled an imbecile and cretin during his lifetime, though the latter with some charity in the sense of a pious, holy fool, for his weak constitution and shy, withdrawn and compliant behaviour, Swiss artist assistance and apprentice Gottfried Mind really came into his own following the death of his master Sigmund Henderberger of Berne known for his sentimental pastoral scenes. Mind accidentally discovered his precocious virtuosity for the faithful feline study, usually drawn from memory with exacting detail, eventually earning him the reputation as the Katzen-Raffael—or the Raphael of Cats. Click through for more of the artist’s portfolio at the link above.
bulldozer exhibition (11. 845)
With the only officially sanctioned style of art for the USSR and satellites since the 1930s being that, like in the pictured mural from Dresden’s Kulturpalast Der Weg der Roten Fahne, of Soviet Realism—depicting idealised views of the state—all other movements of forms of expression were pushed underground. The unofficial showing which would become known as the titular event of non-conformist (see also), 
avant garde artists held on this day in 1974 in Moscow’s Bitsa Park was dispersed by a large police force that destroyed the paintings with earth-moving equipment and water cannons. The artists were arrested and visitors at the exhibit, including journalists and foreign diplomats, were attacked and fled. Extensive media coverage in the West of the incident embarrassed the government, who later relented and allowed, under controlled conditions, subsequent shows, regarded as an important turning point in freedom of expression. All the artworks were destroyed but a typical composition would have been like this abstract contribution from Lydia Masterkova, who left the Soviet Union for France after this event.
Saturday, 14 September 2024
pyri (11. 844)
A wildfire detection device made of wax and charcoal, taking its inspiration from the botanical function of pyriscence (a type of serotiny which is triggered by an environmental factor like the seasons, weather 
conditions, moisture or in this case fire) wherein seeds are only released once their protective resin is melted away in a forest fire has won a UK James Dyson scholarship for further development of the prototype. Like the natural process to reseed the woods, the outer shell of the pine-cone shaped alarm is liquified and activates a radio beacon that alerts local authorities, the electronic components also made of organic materials to avoid leaving foreign objects in the environment and to forego the need of mining more raw materials of components. As compared to established methods of monitoring which rely on drone patrols, satellites and sensors Pyri offers a passive solution that can be widely deployed at low costs and requires no maintenance after distribution. More from Dezeen at the link up top.
karaoke nights (11. 843)
Children’s author and musician Michael Hearst, expanding on a project to teach his young son about music from the 1980s, began recording his own cover versions of the classics and enlisting help from melodic friends from The Magnetic Fields, They Might Be Giants, creative commons session artist Jonathan Coulton and many others. There’s some new orchestration with a diverse range of unconventional instruments like the theremin, accordion and daxophone (a kind of friction-based idiophon, like a musical band saw) and is releasing a song a week for the next eighty weeks with the first batch recorded, ’Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry,” Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” “In My Room” by Yazoo, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” from Crowded House and The Cure’s “Lovecats.” Watch the whole discography unfold at the promotional video below.
* * * * *
Friday, 13 September 2024
per scientiam tempestates prรฆdicere (11. 842)
occult v cult (11. 841)
As a corollary newly minted of Arthur C Clarke’s third adage though the coinage that’s been with us the longest, any sufficiently advanced feminism is indis-tinguishable from witchcraft, a pastor who infamously was among the first evangelics championing Trump as a messianic figure who would deliver America from is wayward ways through Christian nationalism has accused his opponent of deploying actual weirding powers in their first and last meeting on the debate stage—citing supernaturally empowered deception, manipulation and domination, also, less spectacularly but also equally unfounded, accusing the moderators of bias and colluding with the Harris campaign—but also witchcraft. She’s the kind of girl you read about in Newsweek magazine.
to honour achievements that make people laugh and then make them think (11. 840)
The laureates of the Ig Noble Prize (see previously) have been announced in a competition organised by the scientific humorist society Annals of Improbable Research since 1991 and hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who arrange the ceremony with awards in ten categories, 
celebrating the best in unusual or seemingly trivial studies, presented by their Noble-winning counterparts. The botany prize was awarded to a team of researchers that found that the leaves of the parasitic chameleon vine (Boquila trifoliolata) will imitate an artificial host plant in order to blend in. Building on the effects of the placebo and the nocebo, the award for medicine went to an experiment demonstrating that fake drugs with painful side effects can be more effective than real treatments with none, and as has been widely reported, the prize in demographics was awarded for research that helped debunk some of the mystique of the so called Blue Zones, areas famous for having supercentenarians, also excel in bad record keeping.
star hustler (11. 839)
Via the always engrossing Web Curios, we discover this lovely calendar, almanac called Nights on Earth by Phil Mosby that gives one a preview of what astronomical wonders one might behold in the upcoming evenings, assuming clear skies and minimal light pollution, triangulated for one’s location. It strikes just the right balance of coming-attractions without being overwhelming in terms of information and telemetry, and we especially liked the timetables of the various twilights and offer to suggest an event.
7x7 (11. 838)
the hemicycle: an exhibition on the European Union parliament’s plenary sessions from 1952 to the present—see also here and here
i’m feeling lucky: to google as a verb losing traction, younger users preferring search—I have to watch my stories
matrix: a split-screen tool that converts video to ASCII characters—via Web Curios
buzz-bar: a global roller coaster database—via ibฤซdem
we have no idea the ripple effects we will have in this world: the revolutionary Waite-Colman Smith tarot deck—see previously
palimpsest: multispectral imaging the Voynich Manuscript (previously) might reveal clues about its origins
holiday creep: US government facing another shutdown showdown ahead of the coming fiscal year, reporting earlier than usual
synchronoptica
one year ago: a Russian-North Korean summit (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: the new town square
eight years ago: microbeads and microplastics, the extinction illusion plus the thematic apperception test
eleven years ago: bees still under threat plus a US imposed clearing house for all international bank transfers
twelve years ago: corporate hegemony, banking secrecy plus a consortium of European museum collections digitised
Thursday, 12 September 2024
coup d’etat (11. 837)
Bringing an end to the House of Solomon that ruled since 1270, members of the Ethiopian army and police, a junta backed by the USSR, who would go on to govern the country as the Derg (แฐแญแ, the 
Provisional Military Administrative Council) deposed Emperor Haile Selassie on this day in 1974. The emperor was imprisoned by the Marxist-Leninist group upset with his failure to deliver on promised land-reform measures in the semi-feudal state that left many subsistence farmers destitute and effectively indentured to landlords, perpetuating famine and forced relocation of thousands, eventually nationalising all property and abolishing the empire but not before proclaiming crown prince, in exile, Asfaw Wossen Tafari, as king (significantly not emperor, Negusa Nagast, king of kings) who wisely declined and avoided the imprisonment and execution that awaited other members of the court and royal family as well as government ministers and the emperor himself under treacherous circumstances not revealed until after the people’s revolution overthrew the military regime. His death and later ceremonial reinterment was not accepted by adherents of the Rastafarian movement who regard Haile Selassie as god incarnate and hope of deliverance from colonial powers for Africa’s diaspora.
wild horses (11. 836)
Via the New Shelton wet/dry, we learn that the US Bureau of Land Management is using freeze marking to brand and identify wild burros and mustang, in an indelible and painless (reportedly) procedure. The registry assigns captured animals a unique serial number and a small area on the neck just below the crest is shaved off, treated and then an iron dipped in liquid nitrogen is applied. 
The hair grows back white (the mechanism for producing pigment destroyed), making it easy to recognise the tagged individual, rendered in the International Alpha Angle System, a trichoglyph standard invented in the early 1970s for size, legibility and tamper proof nature with the rotating glyphs meant that fewer irons needed to be taken to the field. The cryogenic technique is used on a variety of livestock and by naturalists tracking animals as well.
222 west 23rd (11. 835)
The historic Queen Anne Revival accommodations in the Manhattan neighbourhood of Chelsea was originally a housing cooperative through the early 1980s before being gentrified into its present form, and 
the residential hotel was home to many up-and-coming luminaries until such time, including Jack Kerouac, Andy Warhol, Sherwood Anderson, Henri Chopin, Quentin Crisp, Ethan Hawke, Miloลก Forman, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, Marian Faithfull, Bette Milder, Isabella Rosallini, Eddie Izzard, Jane Fonda and numerous others. In 2011, we learn, a lesser-known but long-term resident, Jim Georgiou and his dog Teddy, was evicted for failing to pay his rent and was temporarily unhoused. The following year during renovations on the building, he saw construction workers tossing out some of the old, white-washed and graffitied doors, which Georgiou managed to salvage and research, connecting them to the suites of different neighbours. After years of work, fifty-two doors were auctioned off, with the proceeds going to organisations that help New York City’s homeless in 2018.
teatro della marionette (11. 834)
Having recently returned from a trip to Lago Maggiore and visiting the island adjacent to Isola Bella—though not having ventured there ourselves—we enjoyed this dispatch on one of the lesser known treasures of Palazzo Borromeo in its nineteenth century puppet theatre (see also), resuming a tradition of entertainments
that waned with the death of prince and patron Viraliano VI in 1690, with an exquisite ensemble of wooden actors, elaborate sets and staging from the ridiculous to sublime with witty and sophisticated scripts in the home’s library. The playhouse has undergone periods of neglect and upheaval, including when it was commandeered as a guardhouse by Mussolini during the Stresa Conference (the 1935 one between delegates from the UK and France that re-affirmed the Treaty of Locarno to prevent future wars and not the cheese summit) but the historic collection was always loving conserved by the family. Much more at the links above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: The Blob (with synchronoptica)
six years ago: open tabs, assorted links worth revisiting plus flying-screen choreography
seven years ago: mushrooms at the museum, more links to enjoy, updating the leader board plus Germany votes
eight years ago: a dark matter galaxy plus fantasy sub-cultures
nine years ago: an usually named concert coordinator plus untamed water
eleven years ago: nouns that exist only in their plural form
Wednesday, 11 September 2024
skylines and turnstiles (11. 833)
i’ve been to many zoos, folks, but biden’s dog must pay the price for eating my concepts of a plan (11. 832)
Maura Quint’s transcript of the US presidential debate, “The One with the Tackle and the Bait,” is worth reading in full but we especially liked these closing remarks by Trump: 
“I don’t like her. She’s mean, everyone in here is mean. This is a failing nation that I’m in charge of, and I think I should run against Biden, who is dead. Where is he? We don’t see him. Is he with the Ghostbusters now, you know that one ghost, very sexy, very nice ghost taking the pants off, and they were very mean to the marshmallows, weren’t they? Very mean. I would like to wish everyone, including all haters and losers, of which, sadly, there are many, a truly happy and enjoyable debate. Oh, look, it’s Taylor Swift coming on stage. She loves me.”
your lumberyard awaits, my lord (11. 831)
Reminiscent of this parody of the experience of visiting a website in contemporary times, we are directed—via Waxy—to SEO king’s House of Blog Monetisation. Scroll slowly to experience the accelerating rewards one gets for reading a post to its conclusion, made all the more cloying since we’re apt to abandon any article after three to ten seconds, having I guess got it already. No one clicks the ads on purpose.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the healing acoustics of Hoover Dam, the first fatalities with flying cars (with synchronoptica), B-PoTY plus Canadian scrutinies its civil servants
seven years ago: more data breaches plus honest Latin mottos for your alma mater
eight years ago: Wisconsin’s House on the Rock and related collections, the EU Day of Open Monuments, a bike tour through Bad Kissingen, purple flavours plus assault by algorithm
nine years ago: off to the Italian lake district
ten years ago: Roman outposts
Tuesday, 10 September 2024
7x7 (11. 830)
cat lives matter: US vice presidential candidate JD Vance propagating false and inflammatory rumours about migrants abducting and eating family pets
beany leeky greens with greeky rampy beans: recipes and foodways becoming a bit less twee, more straightforward—via tmn
an agony, in eight fits: James Earl Jones (RIP) reads Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark
may the gods give you everything you asked for: backhanded benedictions and predictions about what AI does next
esh: how AITA took over the internet
a melodrama in three acts: Five Star Finale and other pre-code screenplay original sources
crowd size: Harris-Walz campaign advertisement airing on Fox News
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: silphium, more on the Voynich Manuscript plus a visit to Trump’s ancestral home
eight years ago: Birobidzhan oblast, fantasy doubles tennis plus the 1970 movie The Phynx
nine years ago: more links to enjoy
ten years ago: WWI periodicals a century on
Monday, 9 September 2024
holidays are jollidays (11. 829)
Via the always excellent Nag on the Lake, we are directed to a retrospective exhibition of nostalgic photographer John Wilfrid Hinde whose carefully staged compositions influenced the style of picture postcards made famous through his commissioned series of Butlin’s holiday camps from the 1960s through the early 70s. Founded by Billy Butin in 1936 after a frustrating stay at a bed-and-breakfast in Wales during which he found himself locked out of the 
accommodations by his landlady during the day (common practise at the time) and was inspired to create seaside resort destinations that were affordable or the working-class with plenty of amenities and excitement. During the immediate post-war period, they were extremely popular with the franchise spreading across Britain, Ireland and the Bahamas but succumbed in the 1970s and 1980s to cheap package holidays to the Mediterranean. Most of the facilities are closed and long demolished or repurposed (see previously), with a few exceptions like the pictured pool lounge of Bognor Regis, but all the parks with attractions like heated pools, monorails, gondolas, sports facilities, stages for theatrical performances and rides but have a living legacy in the millions of postcards meticulously framed by Hinde.
subway surfer (11. 828)
Though arguably in the general case a bigger assault on our concentration and aimed for the low-attention 
span audience, the TikTok split-screen technique, when correctly deployed, like this superb bit of juxtaposition from the Harris-Walz campaign, courtesy of Kottke, that pits GOP taking-points on abortion and other parts of their platform with a video game speed-run, is a remedy for those suffering from Trump and election reporting fatigue—not to promote those views but to engage those averse to any news about the Republican ticket who’s default is to zone out and listen to the dangerous and weird things that they have to say.
@kamalahq oof
♬ original sound - Kamala HQ
floating chad (11. 827)
Via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest and using the recent stranding of two US astronauts aboard the International Space Station for what originally was tour of eight days or so are now, due to a malfunctioning Boeing Starliner, are stuck in orbit until at least February as a narrative device, space 
blogger Swapna Krishna began exploring the long and complicated history that gets to yes for these eligible voters to cast their ballots in upcoming US elections. Back in 1997 then Texas (where NASA astronauts are stationed and registered) governor signed legislation that allowed residents to vote absentee from space when the previous year the Secretary of State had not allowed two US researchers aboard the Mir Space Station to vote electronically, citing no provision in the law that allowed it. Because these missions generally last under six-months and our two astronauts in question did not complete an absentee ballot application with the county clerk, as is the normal procedure, who then sends a test ballot via the Johnson Space Centre to confirm it can be securely completed from orbit, relaying credentials known only to the voter and registrar so they can vote. Not expecting to still be onboard the ISS come November, however, the astronauts had not planned on this contingency. An exception was granted in this case. While election integrity and security are of the utmost importance in the democratic process, these same byzantine rules often serve to disenfranchise those without resources and a support network like NASA. Cosmonauts either vote by-proxy or forgo the secret ballot and radio their choices to ground control. Much more at the links above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus Palestinian embroidery
seven years ago: AI guesses one’s sexual orientation
eight years ago: more links to enjoy
nine years ago: Queen Elizabeth becomes longest reigning monarch, medieval walkable cities, even more links worth the revisit plus alchemy in Prague
ten years ago: Roman campaigns plus the Empire in forty maps
Sunday, 8 September 2024
summermash (11. 826)
Though admittedly not familiar with the majority of the songs in this medley, this latest instalment from DJ Earworm (previously) is a masterpiece of remixing with some outstanding transitions—including key changes—and editing that really bops, despite of the kind of unoriginal material that the artist had to work with for Brat Summer.
when you see something like that, it’s like god is looking right at you, just for a second—and if you’re careful, you can look right back (11. 825)
Premiering on this day at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on this day in 1999 (in general release 17 September), probably no other film has waned in its critical reception and reappraisal since Gone with The Wind, now almost singular dismissed and regarded as not ageing well, the award-winning Sam Mendes and Alan Ball collaboration about repression, renunciation, conformity and fragile masculinity is nonetheless an artfully crafted if unsophisticated time-capsule that captures the Zeitgeist of fin de siรจcle ideas of as-yet unrecognised privilege, normative behaviour and attitudes that still reverberate and are relatable a quarter of a century on. Its stellar initial accolades, 9/11 which made much seem trivial that came before, benighted stereotypes and actor Kevin Spacey being cancelled for atrocious behaviour that mirrored the protagonist of the movie certainly didn’t help its problematic legacy. 
Straddling the enduring (when and if it comes time for critical reevaluation) dichotomy between the message of the meaning of life versus the hollowness of suburbia and sabotaging one’s life and being unable to deal with the consequences, American Beauty relates the archetype of a stranger coming to town in the form of the Fitts, an authoritarian, retired Marine colonel with an ill wife and withdrawn teenaged son who documents everything one his camcorder and pays for his expensive hobby by selling marijuana, to the notionally progressive and liberal picket-fenced community of middle-aged Lester Burnham, unhappy with his career and loveless marriage, and their gay neighbours. In parallel with his wife beginning an affair with a coworker, Burnham becomes infatuated with a classmate of his daughter which sets of a chain of events that that leads him to quit his job, blackmail his former boss, buying a classic car, and taking work as a short-order cook—deportment that might be excused as a “mid-life crisis” in unenlightened times. The 2000 MTV Movie Awards had nominated the film for its Best Kiss category but the studio rejected the overture, not wanting to glorify the “inappropriate” nature of the congress between a forty-two year old man and a sixteen-year old girl. …look closer
mss (11. 824)
Having a bit of a preoccupation with the discipline of diplomatics, we enjoyed going through this collection of missives from Letters of Note when correspondence becomes self-aware and ashamed, feeling the need to excuse itself for bad penmanship—the motor control and coordination to commit words to a page (undiminished we agree by their appearance however verging on the illegible) an important feedback loop in the exercise that’s not much practised lately, and lamented in this vintage selection. Particularly telling is this letter (not pictured—that’s Franz Kafka) from American poet laureate Louise Bogan addressed to essayist and New Yorker magazine editor William Keepers Maxwell with the post script, “Isn’t my handwriting queer? I lost my old one, typing for years; and this one showed up last winter. Odd!” Much more from Sean Usher at the link above.
tsardom (11. 823)
Unveiled on this day in 1862 to commemorate the thousand-year anniversary of the arrival of of the Varangian viking conquerors from Sweden in the Kievan Rus’, traditionally taken as the starting point of 
statehood, the hundred-ton bronze monument, the Millennium of Russia, in the kremlin of Novgorod is a fifteen metre high globus cruciger atop a bell-shaped pedestal, representing the history and culture of the empire. One-hundred twenty-nine figures line the middle and bottom levels and uniquely for an official state work include academics, writers and artists along with rulers, heroes, military commanders and men of enlightenment, but conspicuously absent is Ivan the Terrible (though is wife Anastasia Romanovna is present) for his pillage and massacre of the city founded by Prince Rurik in the ninth century. The monument was captured and dismantled by the Nazis during World War II but Novgorod was recaptured by the Red Army before transportation to Germany could be arranged and restored the work and put it back on display in 1944. Since 1988, among the signals of easing official atheistic policy, the celebration of this state baptism was the first national observance with a religious character.
