as one does

In addition to the royal “we” or pluralis majestatis, there is the contrasting practise of invoking the pronoun when expressing opinions referred to as the editorial “we”—pluralis modestiæ, in the sense of either acting as a spokesperson or referring to the reader and the author. In general, addressing oneself (or another, usually with in a patronising, shaming tone) with agreeing inflections in the first person plural is called nosism.

pseudomonarchia dæmonum

We enjoyed exploring Jacques Collin de Plancy’s comprehensive reference on demonology, le Dictionnaire Infernal, with Public Domain Review as our dark companion and guide. First published in 1818 to a rather startlingly resounding reception (given relatively enlightened nature of the era) it was the sixth and final version that was illustrated by maritime painter Louis Le Breton (working from earlier engravings) that cemented the book’s popularity in 1863 and haunted the reader with superstitions which the author and the age had believed themselves to have matured beyond.  The occult has always managed to gain a purchase in times when rationality and reason seems on the rise and de Plancy himself vacillated in his belief as he embarked on his project, but in seeking to formally classify and describe the hierarchy of that universe may help to reconcile that dissonance.

kennzeichen

Once automobiles in Germany attain a certain age (a calculus of year of manufacture and number of vehicles produced) they are classed as Old Timers (what we’d call classic cars) and have an H added to their vehicle registration plates (see more about German and European license plates and tags here, here and here). Fully-electric vehicles have for the past few years earned an E at the end.
I was very happy to find out that in Poland, antique autos are distinguished with an old-fashioned coach. Vehicles registered to Americans stationed in Germany have undergone several different iterations of markings—going from having them really stand out to blending in.

booming sands

I had heard the expression before but I had always guessed it had something to do with drilling for oil, and I appreciated being disabused of that misconception in a very harmonious and smoothing way with an artist’s concept to bring the sonic experience also known as singing sands to a wider audience who may not have the means of traveling to the remote deserts to hear it for themselves. When conditions are just right, the avalanche and advance of shifting dunes produce a droning, resonate sound. The artist, Lotte Geeven based in Amsterdam, has collected sound samples from some of the estimated thirty-five sites around the world where this phenomenon occurs and is now soliciting for source samples of the sand from these locations. Working with scientists and engineers, the artist has devised a whirling circular drum with amplifiers to recreate the unique timbre and soundscape of the world’s deserts.

i’m a lineman for the county

It’s urgent and vital that Puerto Rico has its electricity and other essential utilities restored and made more robust and at the end of the day it does not matter who completes the task so long as it gets done, but unusually, as Super Punch reports, the lucrative contract has gone to a small company, only incorporated two years ago and having only two full-time staff members until very recently, rather than being farmed out to the already existing networks. The efficient and agile company has proven its mettle in challenging outages in the past and is willing to take the risk that the already bankrupt territory might default on its payments, and it also apparently helps to ascribe to the crony-capitalism that is at the regime’s core and to be from the same Montana small town as the Secretary of the Interior.

trick or treat

For those out there still harboring doubts that Dear Dotard’s regime was about anything other than personal enrichment and propelling a self-styled billionaire from his true status as a heavily leveraged economically and moral bankrupt individual, we present a festive Halloween baseball cap on offer as official presidential memorabilia whose hue compliments that monster’s hair and complexion. It’s becoming a serious challenge to imagine anything more terrifying than the banality of merchandising that betrays a blissful ignorance of the missives and message that it is sending.

gyuunyuuya

Via Present /&/ Correct, a blog updated frequently about all and sundry that’s always worth checking out, we learn that in Japan the milkman (ぎゅうにゅうや, gyuunyuuya) is still making his appointed rounds but instead of leaving the bottles on the stoop or porch, they go into a storage box hung near the doorstep. One can find a massive gallery at the links (the later would take a person functionally literate in Japanese to properly navigate but I am sure you’ll get your fill of these antique, distressed wooden boxes too at the former) and there are plenty still around—although newer models come in plastic with insulation.

under

The international architecture group Snøhetta (which is seeming rather busy these days) has released concept images for a new undertaking outside of Oslo at the southernmost point along the Norwegian coast, a monolithic submerged structure that’s more than an aquatic dining experience for patrons but also a unique marine research facility. The gourmet restaurant is to be named simply under (also Norsk for something that’s a wonder) and will have a panoramic view and an outer surface conducive to barnacles and other reef-dwellers sheltering there, making the structure part of the environment that is the subject of its study.