when somebody’s the president of the united states, the authority is total—and that’s the way it’s gotta be… it’s total and the governors know that

Whilst Trump—who previously begged off any responsibility for the way that corona-crisis has unfolded and dismissed it as a hoax and refused to impose a nationwide shut down, leaving the states and municipalities to sort that out themselves and squabble over life-saving equipment as medical infrastructure becomes overwhelmed—now proclaims dictatorial powers, despite Amendment X to the Bill of Rights regarding delegated rights and devolution to the people and the GOP traditionally staunch proponents for that principle, and will order the states on reopening economic activity and relaxing restrictions on movement and congregation. Governors and mayors, despite this assertion, are coordinating efforts and pledge that health outcomes and scientific modelling will determine future courses of action and not the politics of incumbency.

himmelsspektakel

During the pre-dawn hours of this morning in 1561, there was a mass sighting of an unexplained celestial phenomenon involving what was perceived to be the aerial battle of hundreds of unidentified flying objects in the skies above Nürnberg.
Though widely dismissed as hysteria reinforced by the contemporaneous publication, documentation of the event in the city’s broadsheet for circulation by printer Hans Wolff Glaßer and explained away as the convergence of otherwise mundane atmospheric phenomena, aspects of the reported skirmish by witnesses of darting bright spheres, tubes globes, crescents and cylinders followed by the appearance of a large black triangular object that occulted the rising sun before crashing in the countryside is pretty tantalising and is a textbook close-encounter of the second kind. A similar sighting occurred five years later in the skies over Basel on three occasions in late July and early August.

a financially unstable mess but at the liquor store they call me ma’am

Matt “the Mincing Mockingbird” Adrian paints an expressive range of avian friends with a certain deftness juxtaposed with humorous titles and captions that contrasts the beauty of Nature with the humdrum complaints of human existence. Visit the artist’s website and have look through his expansive portfolio and see if you can tag yourself.

śmigus-dyngus

The second day of Bright Week—the Octave of Easter, is a public holiday in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia as an extension of Eastertide and events sometimes traditionally include egg races and other activities to use up, put away the festoonery—a pretty practical idea, which in parts of central Europe, including parts of Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine they had down to a science, once at least though the practise seems to be less and less common.
Called in Polish above and Oblévačka in Czech, “Wet Monday” (or simply Dyngus Day by diaspora) was chance for adolescents to throw water on each other and flirtatiously beat each other with willow branches that made up traditional egg trees and decorative boughs. With suspected roots in pagan fertility ceremonies and the welcoming of spring countered by Christian missionaries trying impose their religion on the natives, linguists conjecture that śmigus refers to baptism—an involuntary or unwanted one at that, going all the way back to the conversion of Mieszko I, the Duke of the Poles in 966 (coincidentally also on this day)—and Dingnis—from the old German for ransom—refers to the tribute that one can pay in leftover eggs to avoid getting doused or whipped.

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.