haut-kœnigsbourg et kaysersberg (12. 770)

 First spied as we approached the campsite, we took a trip up to the Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, the remains of a strategically located castle surveying the plains of the Upper Rhein below with views over Alsace extending to the Schwarzwald. Unknown when it was first built, the first documented mention predated the reign of Frederick Barbarossa in the tenth century, calling the fortification an illegally constructed incursion by the dukes of Swabia into French territory, and besieged during the Thirty Years’ War by Swedish Protestant forces in 1633, the burnt and abandoned outpost was left in ruin—the inspiring remnants subject of numerous romantic poets and painters over the ensuing centuries. Just after given the status of a monument historique by the Second French Republic, the region was taken over by the German Reich at the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian War as Elsaß–Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) with Kaiser Wilhelm II eager to solidify a sense of nationalism and unity through monument-building (see also) and entrusted the restoration of the ruin to architectural historian Bodo Ebhardt, whom had previously overseen the redevelopment of Veste Coburg, the Wartburg in Eisenach and many other projects—Edhardt himself called to his vocation growing up in Sankt Goarshausen. Completed in 1908, the work was inaugurated with an elaborate medieval re-enactment by the emperor present. Scenes from Jean Renoir’s 1937 La Grand Illusion were filmed there and a exact copy in of the castle and Colmar built in Malaysia outside of Kuala Lumpur and along with the canine-accessible Petite Kœnigberg—la Château de l’Oedenbourg along the apron walls it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in France.

 Next we went to Kaysersberg (the Emperor’s Mountain, previously) on the eastern slopes of the Vosges range on the Route des Vins—one of the chief members of the Décapole (Zehnstädtebund) of Alsace within the Holy Roman Empire to maintain their status of imperial immediacy. Among the finest wine-growing regions, owing to vine stock originally from Hungarian roots, the pinot gris is a particular speciality. French-German polymath—theologian, philosopher, organist and physician, Albert Schweitzer, hails from here, whose 1906 Quest for the Historical Jesus informed Christian mysticism and eschatology. And although holding paternalistic views and accused by some of forwarding the idea of the White Man’s Burden, Schweitzer’s clinics in then colonial Gabon helped advance hygiene and medical care for all of Africa. The village and hike through the vineyards are dotted with his eponyms, including “Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing”—the so-called eponymous Effect for pedagogy for instilling trust for professional opinion through lived experience.

synchronoptica

one year ago: digital divinity (with synchronopticæ), ghost-writing, ambient music from a surveillance system plus up-selling

twelve years ago: reporting on the US government shutdown 

thirteen years ago: DIY month, wine and cheese advertising, vintage community calendars plus the risks of the agriculture lobby

fourteen years ago: hidden messages in song lyrics 

seventeen years ago: the fiscal new year 

lapse in appropriations (12. 769)

Whilst most attention was focused on Trump’s upstaging of the some eight hundred top generals and admirals from American military outposts from all over the world at great expense and distraction summoned to be presented a speech on warrior ethos that could have frankly been an email or at most a TEAMS virtual meeting only to then be lectured by the commander in chief regarding physical fitness of the force, woke- and fat-shaming the US military into a plaything exclusively by and for white, straight males with liberal bastions declared as training grounds, the federal government entered a shutdown after successive refusal by the Republicans to entertain negotiations over extending healthcare subsidies and defunding public broadcasting. The standoff preceded by congress blocking the swearing in of a Democratic representative from Arizona for fear of loosing the GOP‘s narrow margin and compelling the release of the Epstein files, replacing the official portrait of Joe Biden in the White House gallery with a crude picture of an auto-pen and continuing the violent vitriol against the radical left—out-of-office auto-replies are to specifically blame the opposition for the closure and lapse in nonessential services–a clear violation of the Hatch Act. The last significant shutdown lasting more than a few hours was during Trump’s first term in 2018 and 2019 when the government closed for thirty-five days

colmar (12.768)

Next H and I went to the only sizable city of this vacation and toured the ancient centre of Colmar but not before making a detour for the road side attraction in the point-rond of the regional airport—a twelve metre scale model of the Statue of Liberty, erected in 2004 and inaugurated by first lady Brigette Chirac in honorary of the hundredth anniversary of the death of the city’s famous son, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi—whom initally designed the monumental sculpture for the opening of the Suez Canal.

Originally a Roman settlement, the name is shortened from Columbarium—Latin for a dovecoat used later for the public storage of urns and cremains on a wall or within a pagoda. As in the other large Alsatian city, Strasbourg, there is a district long a tributary of the River Ill called la Petite Venise—the quarter formerly home to fishmongers, butchers and tanners and the buildings that form the cityscape are hewn from sandstone of the surrounding Vosges to give the architecture a signature yellow and pink hue. The collegiate church of St Martin’s is at the heart of the old town.

synchronoptica

one year ago: papabili (with synchronopticæ) plus assorted links worth revisiting

twelve years ago: US government shut-down show-down over Obama Care 

fourteen years ago: salvage thieves plus advances in Chinese aerospace 

fifteen years ago: a bumper crop of exoplanets plus planning a trip to Ireland

ribeauvillé et hunawihr (12.767)

 

 

Going a bit further afield, we toured the commune historically known as Rappoltsweiler / Ràppschwihr after the eighth century town passed from the ownership of the Bishopric of Basel to the countship of Rappoltstein (Ribeaupierre), the hereditary king charged with the protection and patronage of the itinerant minstrels of Alsace, who paid a busking tribute to their lord in exchange—the office of the Pfeiferkönig eventually was inherited by the ranks of the prince-electors of Bavaria, and made an annal pilgrimage to their sainted patronness Maria von Dusenbach, a chapel in the Capuchin cloister complex just outside of Ribeauvillé dedicated to the Presentation of Jesus. The Gothic centre with preserved medieval houses is overlooked by a primeval forest (re-seeded much later in its history with giant sequoia—see also—and containing the largest stand outside of North America) and the ensemble of three ruined castles, Saint-Ulrich, Girsberg and Haut Rappoltstein.

 

Next we visited Hunawihr on the way back to Riquewihr—also with a beautifully preserved layout from the 1300s—it was named after the residence of another Frankish lord called Huno, built on the foundations of a Gallo-Roman villa. Renowned for her piety and charity, the sainted lady of the estate, Huna, took it upon herself to do the laundry for the poor and the sick in the fountain at the base of the village, imbuing the clean clothes with powers to restore the health of the ill—with one instance of the dirty wash-water transformed into wine during a particularly bad harvest year. The hilltop fortified church (Kirchenburg, l'église fortifiée) in view of the legendary spring became a pilgrimage site and became, like many of the sacred buildings of the region what’s called a simultaneum, following the Treaty of Westphalia that guaranteed religious liberties for the people of Alsace, and holds both Catholic mass and Protestant services.

hooked on phonics (12. 766)

Incredibly after a run of forty-one years, the Chicago Tribune announced on this day in 1975 that it would be revising its style guide and discontinue the editing standards in place since January of of 1934 of offering simplified, phonetic spellings (see previously) of about eight common words, conceding that the newspaper was not making the grade when it came to came to English language conventions of putting words in print (both in headlines and copy) and wanted to cause no further confusion in the classroom, particularly for young pupils. While holding out that sanity and prescription might one day come to orthography, going forward, the paper agreed to no longer publish thru, tho and thoro for through, though and thorough—as well as rime for rhyme, fantom for phantom, sofomore for sophomore, etc.

synchronoptica

one year ago: sea birds in a hurricane (with synchronopticæ) plus a Schoolhouse Rock!-style explainer for Project 2025 

twelve years ago: punctuation marks that failed to catch on plus downplaying the climate catastrophe 

thirteen years ago: real life raiders of the lost Ark plus the debut of Star Trek: TNG (1987)

fourteen years ago: austerity measures for the German economy plus biometric punch-clocks

fifteen years ago: the reckoning of Iceland’s financial crisis 

biobed (12. 765)

Without even deference to Star Trek sick bay or Elyseium (where zero-gravity nanobots can somehow fix all ailments and injuries unavailable to the Earth bound poors), huckster Trump‘s latest grift is touting miraculous medbed technology somehow kept from the public by liberal billionaires. If such sci-fi ideas did exist, I should imagine that the president would not look like death warmed over nor would he be willing to share with his base of useful idiots. This scam is brought to the American people who also promoted that COVID was caused by 5G cellular masts and that vaccines, masks and social distancing was counterproductive and is a distraction, like the assault on acetaminophen to blame victims, when what remains of US health care is completely hollowed out by removing more subsidies, restricting access to community and preventative medicine and lack of competent staff with hundreds of thousand dollar visas needed for each foreign nurse and doctor.

riquewihr i (12. 764)

Just a few hundred metres’s stroll from the campgrounds, we crossed the Route des Vins winding through the valleys and explored the ancient village of Riquewihr, preserved in essentially the same state since the sixteenth century. Founded in the 700s as a demesne (Landgut, Dömaine) by a Frankish feudal lord called Richo (Richo’s villa), defensive walls and towers were erected and was granted city- and market-rights in the early fourteenth century, eventually purchased by the dukes of Württemberg across the Rhein.

Charming and picturesque with its half-timbered architecture and cobblestone streets, it is a bit over-touristed—like some other places we’ve made return trips to lately, but not overwhelmingly so, with the day-trippers still secondary to the economic activity of viniculture. We took a break from the crowds and hiked in the vineyards on the foothills of the Vosges for a nice overview, having not planned our vacation with the starting of the Riesling harvest.

synchronoptica

one year ago: ranking the gods (with synchronopticæ), Chilean Antarctica plus more brief papacies

fourteen years ago: proprietary geographic protections, illustrating Tarantino plus if the service is free then you are the product

fifteen years ago: more dragnet surveillance from the US plus a trip to Prague

sixteen years ago: an antiquated, nasty habit 

mittelwihr, ostheim, beblenheim (12. 763)

Heading back to Alsace after several years for a camping holiday—the last of the season we think—we noticed that the city limit signs were no longer bilingual, reflecting the German and Swiss cultural influences on this region in la Grand Est on the upper Rhein (Rhine, Rhin) but rather in French with a sub-caption acknowledging the Alsatian dialect (im Elsàss, from the German Elsaß—strongly informed by the neighbouring Swabian way of speaking) with Saint Hippolyte rendered as Sàmpìlt, for example.

First conquered by Caesar, a subject of the Holy Roman Empire, in the Realm of the Franks, traded to the Carolingians as part of Lotharingia, annexed by the kingdoms of France and Germany and later ceded to the Deutsche Reich before returning to France after World War II, this land protected by the Vosges mountains, making conditions ideal for wining and mining, has retained its character and charm and has been relatively nonplussed over all these changes, becoming a model of religious tolerance during the Reformation, unlike the rest of France and embracing a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant congregations within the same communities, the central governments of neither ruling powers wanting to impose a faith or language for fear of antagonising the population.

Though not the most flattering of terms, the Latin form of the name of Alsace entered legalese in English courts in the seventeenth century (stemming from dated perceptions at the time) as Alsatia, referring to a lawless place or one under no judicial oversight, and in extended use sanctuary and a customary marketplace protected by tradition and the independence of patrons.

  

synchronoptica

one year ago: hotel darkrooms for hobbyist photographers (with synchronopticæ), a very short papacy plus Dawn: A Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1976) 

fourteen years ago: Das Boot 

fifteen years ago: substituting the flag of Chile for the flag of Texas

seventeen years ago: lost and found

 

sk8er boi (12. 762)

Via friend of the blog Nag on the Lake, we discover this sweet short student film from 1965 from Noel Black (Pretty Poison, Kojak, The Electric Grandmother)—a narrative with no dialogue that tells a story of infatuation and rivalry set to a surf-rock sound track by Mike Curb performed by Davie Allen and the Arrows. Considered the first cinematic treatment of the subject, it was filmed in Torrance and Redondo Beach California, it received accolades from several festivals including taking the Palme d’Or in its class at Cannes.

5-7-5 (12. 761)

Albeit the scansion can be a bit off at times for human consumption—via Web Curios—this algorithm that pulls headlines, with by-line often, from the Guardian is a fun little experiment (see previously here and here—see also here) which could possibly run through ever permutation well past the heat-death of the Universe and keep on presenting as haikus.
The traditional Japanese short-form poetry, consisting of seventeen morae (μ, a syllable or sub-unit) presented in a five-seven-five pattern, classically with a kireji (切れ字, a caesura or cutting word) at the end of the verse and reference to a season:

the first cold shower
even the monkey seems to want
a little coat of straw

English inspired forms are typically a departure, retaining some of the qualities but more focused on the rhythm and structure of the language, having no precise equivalents and usually composed in an exercise of metric-counting rather than juxtaposition and surprise. Still finding like patterns is nonetheless intriguing.

synchronoptica

one year ago: new Nazca lines revealed (with synchronopticæ), the study of street art plus assorted links to revisit

thirteen years ago: Icelandic landscapes, the US Food and Drug Administration audits Swiss dairies plus excommunication and indulgence

fourteen years ago: a visit to Darmstadt and Erfurt to see the Pope plus the euro vies with the the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency

fifteen years ago: flea market finds and a visit to Werneck 

the mountains are high and the emperor is far away (12. 760)

Sparking much concern and speculation, US secretary of war (we’ll address them by their preferred pronouns) has called an unprecedented, in-person all hands meeting of some eight hundred general and flag officers (GOFOs, high ranking commanders) of the armed forces on short notice—a week to make arrangements—to gather at the marine base in Quantico Virginia outside of Washington DC. Invitees expressed confusion and reservations over security concerns to have the US global top brass in a single location. In this timeline, the urgency won’t be over an impending asteroid impact or extra-terrestrials. No further details were given for this summons prompting a wide range of possibilities from the relatively anodyne announcement like a new national defence strategy, protocol to speaking to the public and press, major restructuring and further consolidation and redundancy, a loyalty test, pledging an oath of office to the party rather than the constitution, perhaps not the wisest decision to gather true, apolitical patriots all in one room unless to purge those not deemed trustworthy enough—to the more grave, such as a declaration of hostilities whose targets could be one or multiple belligerents from Russia, China, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Argentina, Panama, Mexico, Canada to Greenland—or somewhere not yet on the radar—and possibly American itself.

everybody rides the carousel (12. 759)

Courtesy of Messy Nessy Chic, we are happily reacquainted with the artistic duo John and Faith Hubley through their 1976 animated film based on the stages of psychosocial development as articulated by another husband and wife team Erik and Joan Erikson. The eight phases which form a comprehensive psychoanalytic trajectory of healthy growth range from infancy to late adulthood, each with their own virtues, crises, significant rpresented elationships, events and existential questions. The segment below features the voice talents of Meryl Streep and Charles Levin in Stage Six, Intimacy versus Isolation and asks “Can I unite myself with another person?” The movie can be seen in its entirety here, as first broadcast on CBS in September of that year presented by Cicely Tyson and also starring Dinah Manoff, Lane Smith, Pablo Casals, Dee Dee Bridgewater and others.

fe-fi-fo-furlough (12. 758)

After cancelling a meeting with Democrat leadership from the house and senate, saying there was nothing to discuss with the opposition party over the impending shut-down of the federal government, making the lapse in appropriations seem inevitable—though the drama has become almost an annual occurrence. A memo circulated by the Office of Management and Budget, however, seems to raise the stakes and change the calculus significantly: directing federal agencies to not only prepare furlough notices for non-essential employees but also prepare reduction-in-force (layoff) plans for those discretionary programmes not deemed consistent with Trump’s priorities, thus eliminating more of the federal workforce in the event of closure, leveraging the Democrats to vote to keep the government open without entertaining any concessions to the other party. For their part, the Democrats in congress recognise this new intimidation tactic, having averted a shutdown in March arguing at the time that that would have unleashed the administration to do even greater damage to the civil service, but after rescissions and clawing back funds already obligated and voted on—realising that the GOP will do whatever it is ordered—seem to have come to the conclusion that closure is only way forward. We’ll see how this standoff plays out in the next few days.

t-dollar (12. 757)

Representative from Maryland elevated to cabinet secretary of the interior and then commerce secretary during the Nixon and Ford administrations, Rogers Clark Ballard (C B, “Chesapeake Bay,” congressman with a strong pro-environmental record—see also) Morton speaking with the National Press Club on this day in 1975 announced that a new metric was to be used in future releases regarding the economy and federal spending, citing the inexperience and incomprehension of the average American consumer and tax-payer for such astronomical appropriations. The statistic of $14.06 (about $85 presently adjusted for inflation) was derived by dividing one billion by the then seventy-one million households in the United States to make government expenditures more relatable in household economic terms. Unlike the pledge for journalist covering the Department of War, this convention was never enforced and quickly forgotten. 

 synchronoptica

one year ago: JFK’s Sword of Damocles speech to the UN (with synchronopticæ), aggressive cuteness plus Those Were the Days

twelve years ago: a visit to Bad Soden 

thirteen years ago: the US Library of Congress 

fifteen years ago: cyber warfare 

wonderful world of colour (12. 756)

Retaining the same format, Walt Disney Presents switched networks after twenty-one years, in part to take advantage of NBC’s capability of colour broadcasts (with prescience having filmed many of its earlier episodes produced to air on ABC in TechniColor for re-broadcast on its new station, like the BBC’s footage of the coronation of Elizabeth II in 3D yet mostly unseen as the technology has not been widely adopted) and also owing to ongoing tensions between ABC and Disney over the channel’s refusal to divest itself from the latter’s theme parks as a large stakeholder, premiering on this day in 1961 with the new anthology series introductory pilot (presented by Ludwig von Drake, voiced by Paul Frees, on the visual spectrum and colour theory with the National Broadcasting Corporation’s peacock mascot assisting) and his nephew Donald in Mathmagic Land as the second part. The debut is credited with doubling the sales of colour televisions and for placating Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N Minow and turning around his opinion after his pronouncement that television in America was a “vast wasteland” with an educational and informative instance of the media that promised more quality programming.

¹⁴c (12. 755)

Above-ground nuclear testing, conducted primarily by the US and the USSR, from the late 1940s to early 1960s caused a global increase in the concentration of the above radioactive carbon isotope that left a distinct, detectable marker in all life on Earth, entering the food-chain as radioactive carbon-dioxide absorbed by plants and passed on. The so called bomb pulse of this era could be used as a precise dating tool, differing from classical carbon dating because the biosphere acts as a chronometer rather than relying on rates of decay to find out how long ago something died, to determine whether biological material was formed before, during or after. This signature can be used in forensics, forgery detection, poaching and wildlife trafficking and climate modelling. More on the convergence of fallout and science from Kottke, including a video lesson, at the link above.

no good deed goes unpunished (12. 754)

Having foiled the attempted assassination of US president Gerald Ford two days prior by grappling with Sara Jane Moore as she tried to aim her pistol, decorated former Marine and disabled veteran of the Vietnam war Oliver Wellington “Billy” Sipple was indirectly pubically outed by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen after friend and fellow activist Harvey Milk expressed frustration from the community over the president’s delay in recognising Sipple’s heroic intervention. Believing that the White House was reluctant to acknowledge a gay ex-service member, the Caen hoped his article might change stereotypes. Sipple received a personal note from Ford the next day, praising his selfless actions from earlier in the week and offering his heartfelt appreciation. The media sensation surrounding his sexual orientation and associations with the local scene was unwelcome for Sipple, who unsuccessfully tried to sue the Chronicle for invasion of privacy (having asked that that matter be kept off the record) and when the news broke to his conservative, Midwestern parents, whom were unaware that their son was gay, they virtually disowned him, according to some accounts—and afterwards he fell into a cycle of depression and alcohol abuse.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Tanaka Memorial of 1927 (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: German chancellor softens stance on the EU question 

thirteen years ago: inflation and Oktoberfest 

fifteen years ago: Ostalgia 

seventeen years ago: hidden missives in spam 

welcome to the jungle (12. 753)

If Upton Sinclair’ original 1906 novelisation of the inhumane conditions in the meatpacking industry (see previously here and here) wasn’t already enough to turn one vegetarian and co-champion for struggling immigrants and reform of the social safety net in the US, this brief from 99% Invisible should do the trick, showing that precious little has changed in the intervening century, including the tarnished American Dream, and has taken a turn for the worse with consolidation and workers even more disposable.