footsie

A former professional soccer play (Footballer) a few weeks ago decided to come-out as a homosexual, with the support of coaches, and this personal decision to cast aside shame and stereotype in the athletic world has become a very public matter. Several states in Germany have proposed educational reforms to introduce curricula that normalises non-traditional orientations and family compositions—and while it goes without saying that whatever lesson-plan adopted would address healthy commitments among consensual partners and there's no element of indoctrination in tolerance, acceptance, the chasm of debate shows it is not such an easy decision.

Though many of those who voiced their detraction (which of course enjoy the same protections and do those of the proponents and sometimes those insisting on acceptance are the most intolerant of dissenting views) and demand a reclama are projecting their discomfort off-sides, there are extensions of the argument and inculcation that do touch Germany's culture and composition. Though not quite on topic, Germany's influx of immigrants whose culture and upbringing reject alternate lifestyles as much as the reach-back in time with modern and backwards reflections in bullying and intolerance does raise the questions of what expectations one can have for integration and the quid pro quo of other norms, like polygamy, polyandry or open-relationships among constellations of adults who would have it no other way. Some scholars of the subject have proposed that all old time religion proscriptions were spawned not out of prejudice or ostracization but rather as a statement against the insincere practice of the husband of keeping men on the side, which is still prevalent though not discussed among the most conservative elements. What do you think? Is introducing language like preference and domestic partner in schools flirting with disaster or just something long over-due?

consanguinity and so do my sisters and my cousins and my aunts

Mental Floss has gathered an interesting though archaic collection of specific terms for family members. Though not in common-parlance, I really appreciate the fact that ones father's sister is properly known as ones fadu and relations should be honoured with more than generic titles, I think.
Most of the catch-all English words—which do certainly enjoy a greater degree of specificity in other languages and cultures, are derived from French and German words. Some of the peculiarities are interesting to note, as well—like the Germanic Eltern for the English parents (from the Latin parens) is always dual and can never signal a single parent, except when constructed as alleinstehende Mutter, or sister-germane, from the Latin germanus for real and sincere and having nothing to be with the exonym for the country.

zifferblatt

 Some enterprising minds have opened up a new cafe in London, the Presurfer reports, where time is money and patrons pay only based on the time that they are there, clocking in and out with the mug given them at the door. Coffee and light-fare and use of the internet and kitchen are free. Ziferblat (in Russian) and Zifferblatt (in German) is the word for the face of a clock and a similar concept was already debuted here in Wiesbaden in the early summer by another Russian entrepreneur with the same amenities. I think it's a pretty keen idea and I wish both cafes success but I do wonder where people put more a premium on loitering—or are both locales inviting the same, like-minded clientele.

badge, device or cognizance

The ever inspiring Muse at BibliOdyssey shares her latest discovery of the lettering artwork of designer and bookbinder Albert Angus Turbayne though his big book of turn-of-the-century monograms and ciphers. A cipher in this context refers to the stylistic linking together of letters, as opposed to a typographic ligature, like &, æ and ß. There is a very nice representative gallery at the link above, but one can also find the exhaustive collection of initials and styles at Project Gutenberg should one be searching for his or her initials.

corbels and consoles

Actress and activist Joanne Lumley, Bond Girl and Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous, has commissioned architect and civil engineer Thomas Heatherwick to build a pedestrian bridge spanning the Thames.

The lush and living gardens and park will be in memory of Princess Diana, and the concept echoes the elevated promenades of other modern metropolises, like the Sky Line in New York City, and more historic constructions, like how the old London Bridge was outfitted with homes and shops, as well as a means for traversing the river. The article from WIRED! magazine emphasizes the link to another actor, di Caprio, as inspiration, and while such an imaginative structure could be out of the dream-scape of Inception, the architect actually faced an enormous challenge in aesthetically accommodating all the tonnes of soil, and he found his solution with a perimeter to distribute the weight evenly, which left jagged, afford semi-private loggia against the railings, where people could gaze on views of the city and waterway or if so taken, reenact the romantic scene from Titanic.

and you will know them by their trail of pine-needles

I think it is a little sad to take down Christmas decorations prior to Three Kings' Day, the twelfth day of Christmas—especially considering the preparation and the investment of time to trim ones home and then to have to acknowledge that it's all over and back to normal schedules and especially too when the weather has yet to deliver anything seasonal.
It is, however, a little bit unseemly to have public decorations too far after that date. This year, we waited a little too long to take down the Christmas tree. It looked ok and not overly dry, provided that one did not disturb the boughs. After removing the lights and the ornaments there was a thick halo of needles on the floor, raining down every time you touched the branches like one of those sand-paintings. Even more exploded off once the tree was tossed over the balcony, so it could be drug—with due ceremony, mind you, ritualised like every aspect of the holidays (in Sweden, the ceremony is named Julgransplundring—publicised in part by a Swedish furniture giant—when the family plunders the tree for edible ornaments and launches the tree out the window but takes place on the Feast Day of St. Knut, which roughly corresponded with Epiphany under the Julian calendar), to the composting lot, the Christmas tree grave yard.

coin-op or waxing-nostalgic

Do you remember these?

I can distinctively recall summoning up some aquamarine elephant with a Mold-A-Rama vending machine at the zoo in Oklahoma City as a little kid. One could choose from a whole variety of souvenir animals and even dinosaurs, hot from the extruder. At the link, watch one at work from a recent visit to the animal-park in San Antonio.  Three-dimensional printing is potentially revolutionary but maybe nothing particularly new or novel in application, considering the mania introduced in 1962 and with these free-standing legacy machines still in action at zoos and other venues across America.