les animaux tels qu’ ils sont

Via Present /&/ Correct, this lovely antique volume by M. et Mme Lambry of Paris teaches one how to sketch all our animal friends working up from basic geometric forms, bunnies included. Be sure to check out both sites linked above for a wealth of graphic design resources.

pachyderm

The incredibly prolific design duo of Ray and Charles Eames (see previously here and here) had great affection for elephants and prototyped a moulded plywood multipurpose piece of furniture for children in 1945—which never went into production until 2007. Our friends over at Pasa Bon! (don’t be intimidated by the language difference) give a bit more background and history on the design and present several scalable tutorials to create one yourself out of paper or sturdier media as a fun and engaging project for any one.

roman missal

Though not feted right now due to the ranking of liturgical days according to the Roman Rite, outside of Eastertide which of course takes precedence, the pontificate of sainted Julius I (†352) is celebrated on this day.
While Julius’ theological accomplishments in establishing heterodoxy among articles of faith (see also) regarding the tripartite nature of God carry more weight in terms of Church structure and governance, his most enduring decision took place in 350 when he decreed that that the birth of Jesus should be observed on 25 December—there having been no set date beforehand. Though the most obvious rationale for the choice is probably the correct one—a concession to already established Roman holidays celebrating the solstice and Sol Invictus, there is another explanation rooted in the belief that saints and other noble figures didn’t suffer to survive for only fractions of a year (see also), that their lives would be bookended by nice whole numbers, and hence God pre-ordained these leaders to expire on the anniversary of their conception, the Feast of Passover (Pesach) coming nine months after Christmas.

garysaurus

His massively popular and curatorially acclaimed colossal sculptures having already attracted quite a following as they were paraded, fully assembled in cross-country processions and on display in-situ became the backdrop of the 1986 sci-fi comedy Howard the Duck, Jim Gary (*1939 – †2006) was the only artist invited to present a solo exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, opening on this day in 1990, and featuring dozens of Twentieth Century Dinosaurs, stegosaurs, triceratops, tyrannosaurs, pterodactyls fashioned out of salvaged automobile parts and brightly lacquered in car paint.
When not touring, the dinosaurs resided in Gary’s garden or were on loan to his favourite cafes and restaurants (hence the appellation for one installation, the dinersaur), sort of like those art cow statues (called CowParade and conceived by Swiss artist Pascal Knapp) of its day. The term above was an encomium to Gary in an obituary by biographer and reporter for The Guardian Andrew Roth, coining the neologism to describe his creations.

pv3

After just over two years of rigorous and closely monitored field trials and coincidentally on what was the tenth anniversary of the death of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (see previously) whose progressive and ultimately fatal paralytic illness was believed to be caused by an onset of a childhood case of the disease, the polio vaccine that Doctor Jonas Salk and his team at the University of Pittsburgh was declared safe and effective on this day in 1955 and approved for general use against strains the debilitating virus. Although transmission does still occur in parts of the developing world, the incidence of contagion has been interrupted, decimated by mass-intervention—numbers in the United States alone saw a precipitous drop, falling from thirty-five thousand cases in 1953 to fifty-six hundred in 1957 and less than two hundred four years later.

llamas

Observed on this day, the birthday of the composer of the original song lyrics and melody based off a traditional Latin American tune doo-wop artist Richard Berry, Jr (*1935 – †1997)—the Louie Louie Advocacy and Music Appreciation Society has been sponsoring and promoting the international celebration of his most famous, enduring and reprised piece since 2007.
Although the 1963 version recorded by the Kingsmen is the standard and propelled the number’s popularity (below but find your favourite version in the original or among the hundreds out there), there are countless worthy covers, tributes and homages throughout the decades, including Paul Revere and the Raiders, Otis Redding, the Kinks, Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Jan & Dean, Motörhead, Led Zepplin, Blondie, Nick Cave, Joan Jett, the Grateful Dead, Tommy Petty, Tina Turner, John Lennon, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Robert Plant and the Dave Matthews’ Band—just to name a select few.

sesamstraße

H and I shared a cross-cultural moment the other day, him remarking that my hair, already in need of a cut before the lockdown, was getting pretty shaggy and I would look like Tiffy soon. I didn’t get the reference and he explained, “Tiffy, you know the Muppet from Sesame Street?”
I wasn’t familiar and vaguely knew that there were different nationally syndicated versions of the show with different characters and looking up an image, I thought she presents as a Mokey Fraggle and possibly a later addition to the cast. More research, however, showed me what a different and parallel world there was between the Children’s Television Workshop and the studios of Norddeutscher Runkfrunk. They that you call Big Bird and Mister Snuffleupagus we call Tiffy und Samson, a friendly bear with a security blanket called Schnuffeltuch.  Same energy.
Tiffy and her friend were portraying the psychological ages of six- and five-year olds respectively and were with the show since it’s debut in 1977. In late December of 1993, there was a sort of Muppet Monster New Year’s Eve special called Sesame Street Stays Up Late, anchored by Elmo as sort of a CNN style reporter showcasing celebrations by time-zones and featured introductions and interviews with international cast and crew, including Tiffy, Samson and company. I am rocking that Tiffy hairdo.

der honigdieb

Though perhaps best known for his iconic portraits of contemporary celebrities, like this one of Martin Luther that’s become synonymous and defining, the imagination, which takes a rather lurid turn at times, of the painter and printmaker Lucas Cranach the Elder (*1472 – †1553, confusingly from the village of Cronach) also has a legacy worth contemplating—especially after the accusations and misapprehensions that the shock of the naked body in classical and Renaissance art wasn’t some soft smut for the elite with the intrinsic value, patronage and support system not accorded to the prole material made by machine and put out by Pornosec for the masses. We are confronted with this question by a new exhibit in the Compton Verney Gallery in Warwickshire—encapsulated by the some twenty known versions of Cupid complaining to Venus (1526, Venus mit Amor als Honigdieb)—all of which portray the two classical love deities gossiping, nude but Venus naked in a wide-rimmed hat with ostrich plumes and Cupid assailed by bees for having snatched a bit of honeycomb from the apple tree that they’re standing under. The subject was popular enough, based off a bucolic poem by Theocritus called Κηριοκλέπτης (Keriokleptes, same meaning) for Cranach to sell basically two dozen copies with slight variation with Venus laughing off Cupid’s lament and comparing the stings of the provoked bees to his own smitten arrows. One has to wonder what was informed by carnal experience and what was moralising and emendating in his portfolio. Visit the entire collection online at the link above.