After considerable difficulty in finding a publisher for his manuscript—out of fears that criticism, however veiled, might distress the alliance with the Soviets under advisement of the Ministry of Information, George Orwell’s allegory Animal Farm was first released on this date in 1945.
The work, which is a retelling of the dismantling of the Czarist Russia and the violent Stalinist origins of the Soviet Union, informed by the author’s experiences of escaping Communist purges during the Spanish Civil War and realising how easily “enlightened people in democratic countries” can become gripped by propagandists and whipped into a furore. Originally bearing the subtitle “a fairy story,” the satire—removed from contemporary events and figures—does seem to become a clumsier way of getting one’s point across and might limit the novella’s scope away from dictatorships in general, but I think that such criticism—and we should have the wherewithal to question political relevance—re-enforces the need to study our history in order to avoid repeating it.

rip aretha

Crowned Queen of Soul shortly after her discovery, commercial break-out in 1967, the elevation of Aretha Franklin was by no means something premature. Her impact and legacy are hard to assess, having been the soundtrack and rallying-cry to each of our lives when we needed it and when we were ready for it.  Resquiescat in pace.

the long game

Digg directs us to a fascinating article from The New Republic that traces the deep history of the KGB and successor organisation’s preening of their unwitting Manchurian Candidate, possibly going all the way back to Trump’s 1978 marriage to Ivana and subsequent visits to Czechoslovakia, with the real estate mogul becoming a person of interest who might provide insights into the soft power of celebrity.
Indeed, however, their plant turned out to be something like The Americans, only tawdry and dim and in reverse with the realisation that Trump and his circle had not only the potential for ingratiating themselves to politicians with the power to influence policy-makers but had were fools for flattery and the American oligarchs, the parasitical rich whose fortunes would not have materialised without heavy government subsidies and corporate bequests of to hollowed out institutions and services that the state used to provide, might be enlisted as statesmen themselves—either directly or indirectly.  There’s an exchange from 1986 recounted that would have otherwise appeared too dumb and conceited to be believed until this year with Trump fishing for information on nuclear weapons as a way to get a primer on how Gorbachev so he might be able to convince Reagan to invest Trump with plenipotentiary powers as an ambassador to the Soviet Union and of course, to open a hotel.  Arrogantly, Trump laid claim to his familiarity and confidence by linking himself to the administration through the lobbying firm of Black, Manafort & Stone who had helped orchestrate Reagan’s 1984 re-election victory who Trump had recently retained. It’s easy to concede that such vanity wouldn’t make for a plum asset. 

janteloven

We’re grateful to TYWKIWDBI for the introduction to the “Law of Jante,” originally a satirical way to codify Scandinavian social foibles and group behaviour but now something taught in schools to reinforce social mores.
Setting his observations and reflections on small town life in a 1933 humorous work called “A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks” (En flykning krysser sitt spor), author Aksel Sandemose creates the fictional village of Jante and prescribes ten rules, which all echo the prevailing sentiment that overt ambition and rebellion—within certain tolerance—are selfish and inappropriate and one ought to adopt the Golden Rule to have the empathy and self-awareness to know that one is not better than everyone else. Outside the classroom, the term has taken on an idiomatic sense of disdain for over-achievers and agitators for agitation’s sake, and the attitude is testament to the social cohesion, tolerance, equity and compassion demonstrated by the Nordic culture. Visit the link above to review the full rules and learn more.

nightswimming

Photographer Christy Lee Rogers gives her subjects a distinct Pre-Raphaelite, Baroque quality not with gauzy filters and tuning but by submerging them, fully swathed and swaddled with colourful fabrics, in a floodlit pool. This ethereal composition is part of Rogers’ series called “Muses” and you can learn more at Colossal at the link above.

[ʊ]

Via the always excellent Nag on the Lake, we are treated to writer and composer Aaron Alon’s gradated deconstruction of English orthography.  Because of English’s pedigree and influence, there are a lot of counter-intuitive formulations that really bedevils learners and makes the cultural hegemony more than a bit fraught and maybe a little suspect, betraying a reluctance to synthesise new influences any more.  This short demonstration normalises (previously) vowel and consonant sounds in stages to give us an illustrative demonstration of what the language might sound like if spelling and pronunciation were consistent.  A weirdly intelligible dialect comes out of it.  Do give it a listen and let us know what you think.

trashercize

Lately I’ve incorporated (like in the article, when confronted with how we’ve rubbished the oceans with our profligate and careless use of petroleum products) of picking up litter on my long walks, and so was delighted to be reminded that there are other motley crewes of enthusiasts combining cleaning up with exercise.
Plogging, the portmanteau named by Stockholm resident Erik Ahlström is a combination of the Swedish plocka uppa and jogging and describes a popular fitness and do-gooder trend that’s been gaining momentum since at least 2016. Though it seems Germans are growing less and less tidy (a discouraging development for the strata of rubbish that collects on the curb, gutter and under shrubs), I can’t say I’ve encountered as interesting trash as the intrepid ploggers in New York—detritus of fast food mostly and fruit drink sippy pouches. You’re on notice, Capri Sonne. I ought not be so dainty about picking up trash, however that’s giving a little more meaning to my idle wandering, calling myself a flâneur rather than a jogger or plogger and perhaps not being enough of an aspirational cleaner (picking up only plastic deemed fit for the recycle bin) to maybe encourage others to join in.

open door policy

A creative couple, a game developer and a television writer, in Tokyo commissioned a living space from the architectural studio +0 located in the maze of cul-de-sacs and blind-alleys that characterise the city’s central wards to blur the boundaries of our understanding and expectations of public versus private space, with the ground storey of the “House in Ōji” open to community ingress, egress and regress.  What do you think?  There is a touch of the surreal to the optical illusion, resolving a paved lane as one’s foyer.  The owners can elect to close their doors and any pedestrian can still easily sidestep the structure and continue along the path unimpeded but I would personally feel really self-conscience and guilty over capriciously restricting access after opening up my home.