moment of zen

Via the always excellent Nag on the Lake, we are directed to designer Manami Sasaki who has transformed her breakfast toast into creative canvases and are seconding the nomination for favourite subject: we are really enjoying this depiction of a traditional Japanese Rock Garden (枯山水—literally a dry landscape and meant as a heuristic tool to help the gardener contemplate the meaning of existence by representing the essence of Nature and not its physical manifestation), with cream cheese spread carefully raked with nuts and condiments artfully arranged as stones and other elements. We also admired the care and repair dedicated to another slice of torn bread.

daily constitutional

Even before availing myself to my midday walks through the woods where we live, it was a privilege to live in such proximity with Nature and wandered solitary for miles without encountering another soul, and now this peaceful, restorative ritual has really become an important one that’s never stinted or cut short as I’ve taken to exploring every fork in the path and have discovered quite a few hidden, anchoring landmarks in disused cabins, fishing holes and welcome vistas.

 Though still alone and hardly seeing another person out at any hour or no matter what the weather, in one direction, lies the gently logged but managed woodlands with extensive trails and opposite is our section of the European Green Belt, a nature reserve than spans the former Inner-German border and Iron Curtain with paths that follow old patrol routes.

The birdsong is exuberant and watching the trees awaken, day by day, has been a priceless and cherished thing to experience and am deeply grateful for these long, extended hikes and the chance for a change of pace to reconnect.

der goldene hut von schifferstadt

Uncovered in a field near a village not far from Speyer on this day in 1835, the Golden Hat of Schifferstadt is one example of a quartet of headdresses from the Bronze Age and likely date, judging by the intricacy of the metalwork, the gold alloy hammered to the thickness of a sheet of paper, to circa 1300 BC.
This reproduction above is on the shingle of the local museum near the spot where it was excavated, with the delicate original conserved in the larger facility in Speyer—though sometimes ancient artefacts are part of the furniture and become sort of a mascot. The meaning of the insignia and symbols is unknown but researchers speculate that the hats were worn by the high priests of a Sun worshipping cult and may have served as an almanac, marking the days and weeks between planting and harvesting and other rituals.

operation frequent wind

Beginning on this day in 1975, on the anniversary of the war’s spillage cross borders into Cambodia five years prior, the US launched its final phase of evacuations and air-lifts of “at-risk” Vietnamese and American citizens from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) as the People’s Army of Vietnam rapidly advanced on the city. Over the course of two days, over seven thousand individuals were taken by helicopter, and images—especially of the US Embassy, intended only as a secondary evacuation point and reserved for diplomatic staff, which was quickly overwhelmed with desperate residents loyal to the South Vietnamese government. The helicopters ferried evacuees to an awaiting fleet of ships in the bay but as numbers massed and the helicopters clogged the decks, many were shoved into the sea to make room for more passengers.
Secondary, self-evacuees that were not part of this ending phase but were eventually in US custody for processing as refugees ultimately numbered over one hundred and forty thousand, though still only around one tenth of the number that Kissinger and Ford had prepared for. The secret signal to alert people to procedure to assembly areas as the operation (the original code-name Talon Vise changed to the above after it was compromised) was about to commence was to be broadcast on Armed Forces Radio with the code: The temperature in Saigon is one hundred and five degrees and rising—followed by the incongruous playing of Irving Berlin’s I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas, something that perhaps makes one want to heed disc-jockey banter and the rhetorical question “Is it hot enough for you?”

texarkana mayorate or major metros task force

Via Boing Boing, we are introduced to the work of artist and activist Alfred Twu who has been carefully charting coordination efforts among the US states (see previously) for regional responses for a controlled, graduated reopening of schools, businesses and civic life once the risks of relapse have subsided—absent a national strategy—and generating these maps that document the changes, which not so long ago would have been confused with the plot of the dystopian fantasy A Canticle for Leibowitz or war-gaming the next civil war.
Twu’s research and appraisal of an evolving and consequential situation is an admirable one and certainly deserves further study and illustrates that decisions, with or without pressure external and internal, are not easy ones but it also speaks to the terrifying balkanization of America and the legacy of the ideological divides.

full-throttle

Though I think I’d prefer a jaunty tooting horn or a car that went a sardonic “vroom! vroom!,” we do rather like this blast-off sound effect to compliment one automobile manufacturers newest electric model to alert pedestrians (see also) to its activation and launch, since the engine runs quietly, and imprint the experience on the driver and passenger commissioned from film score composer Hans Zimmer, noted for integrating electronic music in with more traditional orchestral arrangements in movies like The Lion King, Inception, Gladiator and the Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. No news whether this start-up tone might not evolve into a fully-fledged soundtrack to accompany one’s whole drive or whether other car companies are seeking to establish their own signature, skeumorphic warning signals.

m.u.a.

Via TMN, we discover to our delight that lip-sync’ing stand-up comedian John Mulaney routines whilst applying cosmetics has become a trend on a popular platform for sharing short videos and dozens of the site’s most popular make-up artists have contributed performing his best bits.

@fayvourite John mulaney skits as Hogwart houses: Ravenclaw 🦅 ##harrypotter ##canadalife ##hogwartshouse ##makeup ##killyourvibe ##makeuptutorial
♬ original sound - god_john_mulaney

floralia

Instituted and enshrined (quite literally as there was a state-sponsored temple in which the party was held) during the late Republic and on advice of the Sibyl after a rather devastating drought, the festival dedicated to the goddess Flora commenced on this day with the celebration for the masses—a distinctly plebeian character as opposed to the austere obligations of most patrician holidays—lasting for six days marked by processions and competition, Ludi Floræ, The Games of Flora, her mystery cult, referred to as the Arval Brethren, a priesthood dedicated to the spiritual and superstitious maintenance of agriculture, opened up for a brief period to allow public veneration and revelry.
The time was marked with special theatrical performances, spectacles including circuses and acrobatics, pelting one other with lupins, floral costumes and dressing of wells, and ceremonial hunting of hares and goats, considered salacious creatures and portents of a fertile year. The ancient rites are reflected in customs associated with May Day (see previously here and here).