future shock

First in print on this day in 1970, the ethnographical treatise by futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler is summarised in the personal experience of too much change over too little time, arguing that society is undergoing an overwhelming and estranging structural change that engenders “shattering stress and disorientation.” Aside from introducing the concept of “information overload,” the book further limns the features of the Information Era to include a throw-away culture, decreasing ownership in favour of sharing and renting, redundancy and frequent career change and digital nomadism. In 1972, after its best-seller success, a documentary was produced, narrated by Orson Welles.

i want to wake up in the city that never sleeps

Reminiscent of this application that let one dial up ambient sounds of the workplace, the staff of the New York Public Library (previously) have collaborated with a local creative agency to curate and make available the typical metropolitan soundscape in hopes of restoring some of that familiar cacophony whilst the city is on stand-by. More recordings to fill the unnerving silence at Hyperallergic at the link above.

selfie2waifu

Via Boing Boing—though we’d recommend maybe not experimenting with it on one’s phone as it seems to deploy harmless though slightly irritating adware making it easy to fumble over an errant click—we find this fun little application that utilises unsupervised generative adversarial networks (previously) to transform one’s mugshots into manga renderings that make nice and unexpectedly abstract avatars. In the glossary of anime fandom, a waifu (wife)/husbando is one’s fictional counterpart so was a little unsure of the choice in naming and I’d categorise myself IRL with the trait of アホゲ—that is ahoge or idiot hair, describing unruly hair going in all directions, but it is just something amusing to experiment with. Give it a try and show off your results.

florida man

This horrendous flag was once proposed for the official banner of the then territory of Florida hoisted in 1845—recreated according to a contemporary written account—with the appointment of its first governor, William Dunn Moseley, the citizens of Tallahassee flying it at the capitol during his inauguration ceremony. Whilst no one seemed to take objection to the busy and bizarre colour combination (here is the current municipal flag of Tampa), Whigs in the senate roundly rejected the adoption as the motto “Let us Alone” was pointedly a Democratic Party slogan.

i do the rock

Via Art of Darkness, we learn that Tim Curry had a charting hit single in 1979 from his album Fearless, the follow up to his debut recording Read My Lips, which mostly featured covers from his musical influences, including a reggae version of the Beatles’ “I Will.” This song was often double-billed with the music video for another number called “Paradise Garage” and played before screenings of Rocky Horror.

винни-пух и день забот

Born this day in 1917, accomplished Soviet animator Fyodor Khitruk (†2012, see previously) had many outstanding and critically-acclaimed titles to his credit but perhaps the trilogy to leave the biggest impression outside his homeland, since the narrative and visual vernacular runs counter to dominant one, is his adaptation of (1969 – 1972) of A. A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Woods characters. Here is the final instalment, Winnie the Pooh and a Day of Bothers, running twice as long as its previous two parts. Khitruk’s overall style was a marked detour from the sentimental realism of Disney, which nearly contemporaneously produced its own version of Pooh and his friends, with the latter being truer to the original stories.

joseph the worker

Venerated as the patron and protector of labourers and the institution of the Church and intercessor for a happy death as he died surrounded by friends and family, Jesus and Mary included, Joseph is celebrated four times during the year: 19 March—the Feast of Saint Joseph (Josefstag, not to be confused with the Feast of the Ascension, which is also celebrated as Fathers’ Day in some countries) for his role as husband and guardian, the third Wednesday after Easter—the Solemnity of Saint Joseph for his role as spouse and patronage of the Catholic Church, this Memorial as role as a Worker (since 1955 as a reflection of and solidarity with the broader movement for social justice and labour reform that had been observed on the first of May since 1890)—a carpenter, and the first Sunday after Christmas for coming to terms with his situation. His extended patronage includes the pontificate of Pope Francis, Sicily, Austria, Belgium, the Americas, the Philippines and Vietnam as well as being the champion of explorers, pilgrims, immigrants, real estate agents and engineers.

penny black

Whereas prior to the introduction of a pre-paid, flat-rate and conveniently adhesive postage stamp, first issued on this day in the United Kingdom in 1840, the Royal Mail was beset with complexities and high rates usually collected upon delivery determined by distance travelled as well as the sheet-count of the correspondence.
In order to remedy this situation and make the postal system more customer-focused and efficient (see also), inventor, social reformer and educator Sir Rowland Hill (*1795 – †1879) commissioned a government inquiry which resulted in not only the Uniform Penny Post but also an inexpensive, mass-produced version of an adhesive envelop for privacy, further facilitating the rapid and reliable exchange of correspondence. Honouring the monarch and promoting its adoption amongst the public, Hall and the committee selected a cameo image of then fifteen-year-old Victoria created by engraver and illustrator Charles Theodosius Heath (*1785 – †1848) and son Frederick, this portrait of the Queen used on stamps for the remainder of her reign.