world of wheels

For a weekend in July, hundreds of classic cars descend on the medieval German Altstadt of Fladungen, proud owners transforming the cobble stone streets and narrow alleyways into another kind of museum. We always have a lot of fun seeing the spectacle, the cars lining the avenues and square and the parade of entrants. There were several luxury and sports models, of course, and incredible American road-ships on display, but I’ve always thought that the bubble cars (Rollermobil) are especially endearing. The Goggomobil from the Dingolfing, in Lower Bavaria by Passau, manu-facturer Hans Glas and the BMW Isetta were competing variations on the same concept of tininess and economy, made from about the same span of time from 1954 to the early 1960s. The Goggomobil had an actual limousine model and could accommodate a driver and three passengers, while the three-wheeled Isetta’s front cockpit hatch opened up for two.

Cumulatively there was certainly a lot of mechanical talent and countless hours devoted to maintenance and restoration on show, and it’s interesting that a lot of these and similar micro-mini cars have survived in good condition because, due to the engine size—around 13 horsepower only, drivers only needed a moped-class license to operate them, significantly cheaper and easier to obtain than one for a full-sized automobile. I think such a little car would be perfect for taking a spin around the block, and I can see these creative and expressive trends returning with independent and flexible designs for electric mobility.

master of none or doctor, lawyer, indian chief

The venerable librarian and antiquarian at BibliOdyssey shares her latest exquisite discovery with the Fleet Street publication in the year 1900 of the children’s book on various callings Jack of All Trades, scathingly rhymed and illustrated with clever out-set pictures by JJ Bell and C Robinson. Many of the unique vignettes are cautionary-tales, like this verse for creative minds:

There are two kinds of Artists,
And each has got an aim: The one he paints for pennies,
The other—does the same.

I wonder what these collaborators could say about employment nowadays, for those off the payroll at least, like blogger, internet entrepreneur, day-trader or copyright lawyer.

einschätzung or fine-print

In response to the intersecting frustrations over EU labeling requirements (industry resistance to larger, legible type and the mandate to list ingredients on many products in all the languages of Europe) and the slowness of reform and the slow creep of chemical short-cuts to the business of processed foods (like aromas as understudies for real and natural content and various concoctions which sound more harmless and anodyne in German as opposed to Latinate and sciency English equivalents—i.e., Farbstoß rather than naphthalenesulfonic acid hydroxy disodium salt, otherwise Red Dye Number 40), one German grocery franchise has responded since a few months back by providing customers with magnifying glasses to better scrutinize the contents of what they are buying. While I have never actually seen these installations being utilized, I do applaud the company and think by putting them on every single aisle (and this chain does not exactly have the reputation of providing the most healthful, organic—Bio selection), cues shoppers to be more cognizant of what’s going into their food and in turn what’s going into their bodies.

enthüllen

When we last left our hero, he was holed-up at the Ecuadorian foreign mission in London, protesting extradition to Sweden to face charges, since the Swedes might be pressured to render him to the US for summary judgment.

Still clinging to sanctuary, however, the Wikileaks team has managed to release its latest cache of some two-and-a-half million electronic corres-pondences between Syrian government officials and industrialists and Western ministries. I would not suggest that this enterprise is a motivated plea for leniency from America’s vindictive prosecution and the court of public opinion, since to disentangle the interests and actions of all parties, some probably very embarrassing revelations will come to light—for the American government and business interests too, showing once the consortium of journalists digest the connections and the raw details, that what diplomacy professes is something quite different from what’s hiding behind sanctions, truces and rebellion.

speciments

instructions to applicant

What an obscure thing to commit to paper, and what a bizarre punishment for those born under the sign of 87. I wonder what old legacy programming subroutine is triggered with this magic number. It’s like the legal fictions, which vary greatly by jurisdiction, for people born on a 29 February, which I imagine could get people in quite a bind and might only be remedied by a telefax addressed to somewhere on some other time continuum. These systems, which justify more than a few jobs by continuing to refuse to communicate with one another and require a translator and arbitrator, are not the most navigable and produce as much red-tape as the bureaus and agencies that the sustain. I wonder, though, if anyone has bothered to compile the surprising snatches of poetry in unappreciated bureaucratic boilerplate. Some passages are untouchable and have survived updates and revisions to regulations, like one of my favourite sections that includes “notorious misconduct off-duty—with regard to off-duty conduct, all employees have an obligation to conduct themselves so that no disgrace or disrepute will be visited on the Department of the Army” as a primary cause for dismissal—very non-committal and open-ended and probably a guildline that would defy being stated any other way.

umbrage or full name

In addition to being the engine and regulator of calendars and holidays in many traditions, the waxing and waning of the Moon to its gleaming and unshadowed visage is also named as the year makes its transit through the seasons. It seems a bit tautological as the word for month in many languages is derived from the word for Moon, but with the asynchronicity of the Sun and our calendar systems (since some months can have an extra full phase, a Blue Moon, or be absent a full moon altogether), that tidal pull I think acts as a correcting force, bring our sense of time back in line and turned from schedules and agendas. It’s nice to reflect on the ruling Moon, governing its portion of the year, and what lyrical names and moods, mostly from mixed Native American traditions though I would be interested to see more on what other folk-practises and conventions there are, we give it.

Winter Solstice

January Old Moon, Yule Moon, Ice Moon

February Storm Moon, Hunger Moon
March Lenten Moon, Crow Moon

Vernal Equinox
April Pink Moon, Fish Moon
May Flower Moon, Hare Moon
June Honey Moon, Hot Moon

Summer Solstice
July Hay Moon, Thunder Moon
August Dog Moon, Lightening Moon
September Harvest Moon, Wine Moon

Autumn Equinox
October Travelers’ Moon
November Hunters’ Moon
December Oak Moon, Frost Moon

adi, adieu, arrivederci, adios acta

After months of protests over intransparency and secret diplomacy, back room dealings and public outcry, the outcome of 4 July’s parliamentary vote in Strasbourg was somewhat of a foregone conclusion. The vote, however, was a decisive stance and declaration of independence from American dictates, coming in the form of rejection of the ACTA treaty and choosing freedom over copyfight. A clear majority of parliamentarians from all political persuasions did come together to deflect this proposal, ostensibly to combat international counterfeiting of real and virtual commodities and enshrine intellectual rights, but there was a minority of proponents and many abstainers.

I am sure that the watchdog group, European Corporate Observatory, could let you know how your representative voted and if there might be industry connections influencing that decision. In the last minutes before the ballot, there were some desperate, sophistical arguments that tried to defend the opaqueness of the negotiations, saying that the deal was about keeping fabulous-fakes out of the market and not about codifying the ability of government censorship, though China and Indian were not signatories. (That argument is a bit taxing, I think, because those countries are not dens of piracy and inequity and do export some counterfeit goods because they also generate the majority of the world’s non-counterfeit goods as well.) One supporter of ACTA compared an agreement without China and Indian to the good done with the imperfect and not universal Kyoto Protocols, which is without Chinese, Indian and American support, and that we still ought to try something. The comment was weak, but it did make me think that before even entertaining furthering American hegemony and legal frameworks, the EU and others ought to be able to demand that the US abide by the environmental treaty, recognize the permanent tribunal in the Hague, pay its membership dues to the United Nations, etc. Such a quid pro quo seems fair and might convince the US to introduce compacts not overly swayed by the telecommunications and entertainment industries—especially as the move by Europe is inviting the spectre of retribution in trade and tariffs on the part of American businesses. Those threats, however, must have rung empty for the rejection to be so resolute.