contrived durability oder tinker, tailor

Via Boing Boing, we learn that admirably the EU is taking further strides against institutionalised obsolescence with a guaranteed right to seek repair rather than disposal and replacement. Rather than supporting the status quo model of leasing that infantilises and confounds consumers with terms and conditions that bundle service contracts together and require any attempt to remedy a problem be conducted by authorised dealers, Europe is putting together a charter that awards companies who reduce waste and don’t sell people a ball and chain along with a car or a coffee-maker, stipulating an accepted, universal definition of built-in obsolescence, the ability to (while maintaining safety standards) upgrade and make modifications, untangling replaceable components like operating software, lightbulbs and batteries and encouraging general durability.

willkommen in der hölle

Corporations and kleptocrats are deserving of the coming mobs with pitchforks and protests are quickly slipping into violence and vandalism because people are feeling more and more powerless—especially when made to suffer and sidle such buffoonery and abject doltishness emanating from the US. No one has time for that. Outrage (DE/EN) should still be channelled and harnessed gingerly—however, and there’s no excuse for attacking for attacking the police and the emergency services who have incredibly tough jobs to do nor for senseless, opportune destruction and looting.
Such chaos and devastation are not political instruments and a resistance failed. The city of Hamburg deserves better and is better than the prevailing portrayals of the moment—while there’s many stand-out and shameful scenes, there were more peaceable demonstrations, concerts and marches with a message and mandate happening concurrently. That said, the responsibility lies fully with the politicians and their image makers not only by insisting upon prestigious venues but perhaps also by the fact that such rallies could not (with or without undirected rage) take place in the streets of Washington, DC, Riyadh, Ankara or Moscow.

buffer memory

One archivist and curator of endangered and at risk television programming is discovering that there is a palimpsest of preserved historical data to be retrieved from VHS and Betamax tapes that might seem otherwise without much merit from a conservationist point of view in the form of teletext pages that were collaterally recorded along with the surface shows.
Before the internet and home-computers became ubiquitous, the Ceefax service furnished a wealth of information, as with these captured feeds from June of 1983—plus resources to be found at the link up top that have compiled whole days’ worth of behind the screen programming.  Most broadcasters ceased their teletext operations in the early- to mid- 2000s once the internet (especially news websites) became robust enough to handle high-traffic volumes but the service still continues for some in TV Land.

eye in the sky

Via the always marvellous Nag on the Lake, we are treated to a carefully juried selection of the best photographs taken by aerial drone pilots from cameras aloft. These superlative examples of the genre, like this best in category Nature of lavender harvesting in Provence were solicited and curated by a specialty photography that really appreciates fresh and unexpected perspectives site called dronestagr.am, previously featured here.

leerdammer, limburger

BBC Culture treats us to a tour of an exhibition hosted in the galleries of the Maurithuis of the Hague—the kingly cabinet known for curating the collection of Old Dutch Masters, which not only extols the aesthetic appeal of cheese as a subject for still life paintings but also for its inspirational virtues through the ages. There are dozens of examples mentioned worthy of further exploration but one of the more resonant ones was how a particularly ingratiating morsel of Camembert (and not Einstein’s contemporary writings on time dilation and relativity as some have suggested) that drove Salvador Dalí to create his iconic melting clocks in Persistence of Memory.

modern day presidential

The press must take a stand against the relentless, juvenile bullying of Dear Leader—what’s potentially at stake highlighted by his recent publicity stunts with fellow dictators who are known for repressing independent reporting including the Polish leadership who were gracious enough to bus in supporters to cheer him on.
Some are suggesting, however, that one outlet that’s been the brunt of his abuse may be legitimately traumatised, a psychological alliance as a survival strategy like those suffering from Stockholm syndrome . Whilst it is questionable whether the original contributor of the offending post would have taken the moral high-ground and pledged to amend his ways if not tracked down and confronted by the news network, they seemed to reach a bit too far with what some interpret to be an implied threat of blackmail or bullying by reserving “the right to publish his identity should” he not uphold any of those pledges to reform. It’s not helping matters for the media to stoop to Dear Leader’s level and only reinforces his narrative of the Lüggenpresse for those already so persuaded, and the response—which includes outing the identities of the reporting team and harassing their families, has been massively disproportionate. No journalist is advocating for Dear Leader’s mode of character assassination but his vocal minority have found a point of contention to latch onto. Words having consequence and expression, while free, is defensible only through responsibility are lessons that cannot be repeated too often if political discourse is to ever become something meaningful again.

afternoon drive: saint goar

In honour of the patron saint of vine-growers, potters and innkeepers—the hermit and (another) reluctant clergyman Goar of Aquitaine, I took a drive just around the corner to the Rhine Gorge to again explore namesake village, Sankt Goar am Rhein. Charlemagne ordered the construction of church at the site of the cave where Goar dwelt (the hermitage) during Frankish times and a settlement grew up around it. The sister-city on the opposite shore of the Rhein, Sankt Goarhausen, is also named for the saint.  The present church on the site is in the Gothic Revival style and was completed in 1891 but still incorporating ancient elements. Although given permission to preach to the locals and pursue the uncomplicated life of a hospitable recluse, his reputation as a charismatic and wonder-worker kept the bishopric of Trier interested in retaining his talents. Not wanting to have the responsibilities and pressures of being a bishop, Goar prayed to be excused from the commitment and succumbed the next day to a sudden and violent fever that relieved him of his mortal coil. The old town was quite impressive and steeped in history and the monumental ruins of Burg Rheinfels that dominates the village looked incredible and will certainly bear out further investigations and new vistas.  I am very happy that I made my little pilgrimage but was a bit disappointed that the throngs of tourists were oblivious to the holiday and the doors of the church were not even open.  I felt privileged, like the day and its commemoration was my secret with the saint.