kenyér varázslat

Our thanks to always bewitching Art of Darkness for revealing to us a common trope through Hungarian folklore in the apotropaic magic of bread. To ward off impending evil, tradition dictates that one simply place a loaf of bread in a windowsill and allow the bread to speak for itself:

First they buried me under the ground, and I survived. When I sprouted and thrived they cruelly cut me down with by sickle, yet I survived. They threshed me with the flails and I survived. They ground me to flower with their millstone yet I survived. They kneaded me in a bowl, and then they put me in a hot over to bake me and I have survived. Have you done all these things? Until you live through all these things, you have no power here.

Though this stems from the same superstitions that cause one to fret over vampire pumpkins (which would seem to kind of cancel things out), I do like imagining some twee croissant standing up to maleficent forces demanding admission into one’s house and being roundly rebuffed.

7x7

see saw margery daw: a look at the illustrated Nursery Songs of William Darton, Jr

i know you are but what am i: an AI designed to detect bot-written text—previously

bespoke: a fun round-up of design oddities

ziegelei: a private brick museum (with eighteen hundred unique specimens) in Berlin documents the history of industry and architectural growth in German and beyond

simpson, eh? yes sir—all the recent events in your life have revolved around him in some way: Apple’s patient CEO has not been the only name that Trump has forgotten

colombophilie militarire: the past, present and future use of pigeons for espionage and wartime communications—via the New Shelton Wet/Dry

wither shall I wander: an epistolary look at the character Mother Goose—via Strange Company 

krusty gets kancelled

We’ll strive for some karmic balance again through The Simpsons but this time with a fonder portrayal of someone recently departed with the fourth season episode (1993) where the Krusty the Clown Show is upstaged by a newcomer ventriloquist act and in order to get his show reinstated on the air, Lisa and Bart Simpson arrange a comeback special with a cast of celebrity cameos.
Having lost the rights to Itchy and Scratchy to the competition, Krusty runs an Eastern European cartoon called “Worker and Parasite” as ratings drop and his show is cancelled. In response to the overtures of the Simpsons kids, Luke Perry (RIP *1966 - †2019, who helps Krusty reunite with his estranged co-host Sideshow Mel, is joined by an ensemble cast including Johnny Carson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hugh Hefner and Bette Midler.  

philosophy of the world

Encouraged by a rather underhanded, fly-by-night record label that billed itself as a talent-scout and dream factory, band manager and stage father of the sister act The Shaggs Austin Wiggin, Jr rounded up his daughters, Helen, Betty, Rachel and Dot, and drove them to a recording studio in Boston to produce their one and only album on this day in 1969. Critical reception was harsh—unduly so, we think—directing such vitriol at teenagers that their dad wanted to showcase, but have been rehabilitated and gained status in later years as a cult sensation and even had a stage musical, off-Broadway tribute in 2011. Check out the full record below.

stark raving dad

While not supportive of a biblioclasm or revision history in any sense, the production team behind The Simpsons has decided to pull from regular rotation a season three episode (1991) from the programme’s rotation in syndication—claiming their right as creators of the long-running series and as descent and upstanding human beings their right to choose what chapters of their story they share.
Some radio stations are taking Jackson’s songs out of circulation.  In the bottle-episode, Homer Simpson, Bart’s father, was confined to a mental institution on suspicion of being an anarchist and has a roommate named Leon Kompowsky who claims to be the pop star Michael Jackson—whose actual cameo was not disclosed until many years afterwards. A sequel was scripted but went unproduced over creative differences that had the character of Kompowsky reprised—but this time claiming to be Prince.

cumulonimbus or blue plate special

We enjoying reading this appreciation of the London heritage Blue Plaque scheme that shows the city’s affinity and relationship with historic personalities and properties and were delighted to learn that some commemorations have a decidedly poetic and flair.
For instance, take the plaque that marks the Tottenham home of Royal Society fellow Luke Howard hailed as “the father of meteorology” for his assiduous record keeping of early nineteenth century climate patterns but is instead given the epithet “Namer of Clouds” recalling his role in scientific nomenclature. “Clouds are subject to certain distinct modifications, produced by the general causes that affect all variations of the atmosphere; they are commonly as good visible indicators of the operation of these causes, as is the countenance of the state of a person’s mind or body,” Howard wrote, inventing a Latin-based and modular convention for identifying formations. The new stadium of Tottenham Hotspur has stands named “Stratus East” and “Stratus West” in Howard’s honour.

zwarte beertjes

Browsing the archives of Present /&/ Correct—always an advisable pastime—Coudal Partners’ Fresh Links has us cottoning onto the fantastic book cover art work of illustrator and author Dick Bruna (*1927 – †2017). Best known for his beloved character Miffy (Nijntje in the original Dutch), Bruna amassed an impressive catalogue of children’s stories and other commissions—despite being told early on that he had no talent as a painter. Peruse a gallery of dozens of posters, greeting cards and book covers at the link up top.