pathogenesis

Putting a spotlight on another overlooked contribution to medical science, we appreciated learning about the life and career of Scottish virologist June Dalziel Almeida (*1930 – †2007) whose pioneering achievements in virus imaging not only led to improvements in faster identification and diagnosis but also put electron microscopy into the quivers of medical researchers and investigators. Her insights advanced later immunotherapies to combat hepatitis, HIV and rubella—as well as other viral diseases and in 1966, Almeida isolated and identified a previously unknown category that came to be known as the coronavirus.

saint expeditus

The Calendar of the Saints venerates on this day a Roman centurion stationed in Armenia-Minor called Expeditus on the occasion of his martyrdom for converting to Christianity (†303 AD) and despite some disagreement on the authenticity of his name—it may have been a misreading or an anonymous victim as it is also Latin for a soldier marching without heavy equipment, tradition has nonetheless accorded this legion commander with the patronage of law professionals pushing for an expedient trial, car dealers, shipping companies and other traders seeking an expeditious solution and students and auditors praying for a quick turn-around and delivery of results—and invoked against delay and procrastination. Expeditus’ iconography, bearing a cross with the word hodie (Latin for today) and trampling on a crow with the onomatopoeic speech balloon Cras! (tomorrow, see above) is from a story told about his contemplating conversion and how Satan, in the form of a beguiling bird, tried to convince him to delay his decision until another time with the soldier resisting the temptation and resolving to affirm his faith right away.  Though not universally observed, there is some precedent for settling long outstanding legal cases on this day,  especially in place where the cult of the saint has a strong following. 

mister resetti

A talented cartomancer called Silkirose is creating a tarot deck (see also here, here, here, here, here and here) whose Major Arcana, greater secrets, features characters from Animal Crossing.
Admittedly while I like the idea of social simulations in video games, world-building and civic-engineering, the social platform and the idea of inhabiting that world with others is kind of a turn-off, though this title from Nintendo (see previously) with all its possibilities for mirroring the real life does seem worthwhile, worth looking into and genuinely relieving.

touched by an angle

Our gratitude to Things Magazine once again for catching this fantastic update we overlooked from our friends over at McMansion Hell (see previously here and here) with this vintage 1973 edition and this garrulous real estate listing that hits all the resounding features and elements: lawyer foyer, Olive Garden bar, trypophobic wine rack, etc. Check out both Kate Wagner’s blog for a tour of the entire property and the source link up top for much, much more.

mambo № 5

Though propelled back into renewed popularity with Munich artist Lou Bega’s sampling and remixed version released on this day in 1999 in German markets on his debut album A Little Bit of Mambo, the history of the jazzy dance number goes back half a century before (see also) that with the composition and recording of Mambo King Cuban musician Dámaso Pérez Prado. Here are both songs for your listening pleasure.
Bega’s reintroduction of the tune (there is a lot of original material and is by no means just a remake and only takes inspiration from a few albeit central riffs) was incredible popular and quickly garnered accolades. It was a candidate campaign song for the Democratic Party’s 2000 election push though sponsors had second thoughts over the line “A little bit of Monica in my life…” and a BBC children’s television programme, still basking in the success from its first recording venture Can We Fix It? Yes We Can!, in 2001 released a cover-version featuring the construction engineer’s voice actor singing, replacing the litany of girlfriends with construction materials and tasks: “There’s a house with a roof that leaks / It’s an urgent job and could take us weeks… A little bit of tiling on the roof / A little bit of making waterproof / A little bit of concrete mixed with sand / A little bit of Bob, the Builder Man.”

side quest and news cycle

Vis-à-vis this other Hero’s Journey, this earlier commentary on the UX of going off the reservation and visiting websites outside of social media’s walled gardens, and this brutally accurate observation that in terms of open access, security, tracking and general skezziness that news sites have taken on the reputation that was accorded to porn sites a decade ago, this image from Mattsurelee (from Instagram, a platform we want no truck in either but thankfully brought to our notice from Nag on the Lake) really spoke to us.
I fully empathise with how news outlets and reporters are not just underfunded and face withering and atrophy but are facing outright assault and hostility and we all need to do a better job of supporting newsrooms and local reporting, but at the same time, I don’t think this coy, bullying approach is the right one—especially for an established audience that has agency and makes the choice to return to a trusted source and be made to jump through hoops and turn tricks to prise open content, ultimately made to find it syndicated elsewhere.

avtomobilny

Sold domestically as the Zhiguli (Жигули, after the mountain range bordering the Volga) and branded as the “Lada” for export (see previously, the designation being an earlier variation for the region in reference to the pirate gangs encamped in the valleys), the automotive manufacturer introduced its VAZ-2101, the initialism standing for Volga Automotive Plant. With seven models in the series, some seventeen million cars were produced until the line was discontinued in 2012—manufacturing at an Egyptian factory continuing until 2014.

le livre des esprits

With the 1857 publication on this day of Allan Kardec’s (nom de plume of Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, *1804 – †1869) seminal, gospel work The Spirits Book, the Spiritist movement (not to be confused with a parallel interest called spiritualism, which concerned itself with the ability and inclination of the dead to communicate to the living) is considered arrived and complete with this final codification that attempts to address the hard, existential questions.
The main tenants of the governing philosophy hold that all corporeal living beings are manifestations of essential and discrete immortal souls which need to become incarnate at increasingly higher states to attain intellectual and moral perfection. The major schism between the former and the later was Spiritism’s belief in the reincarnation, transmigration of the soul into other physical containers and dead relatives being unavailable for consultation through a medium and thus never took hold in the United States and United Kingdom (though those objections seemed to have lapsed in the meantime) as it did in other parts of Europe, South America and Asia. Another aspect that established religions took grave exception to was Spirtism’s theist nature—evolution-affirming in its acknowledgement that a supreme and ambivalent god set things in motion but then stepped away.  After Kardec’s death, his wife and co-founder Amélie Boudet became the movement’s leading authority. There are upwards of twenty-million adherents world-wide, with the majority in Brazil and Vietnam.