13/10

We selected the same header image as the least cursed one to ease into the ramifications that Janelle Shane (previously here, here, here and here) expertly briefs us on with a preview of the capabilities of OpenAI and how attuned it is to following prompts through this “parody” account it has made of the wholesome Twitter property We Rate Dogs that captures the purpose and tone of the original a bit too well with its introduction and (mostly) generous evaluation. The added element of horror is in the generative gulch (as opposed to uncanny valley) when there’s a glitch in the virtual canine that Shane used to illustrate the ratings for its spoof account but that unease seems to us a distraction from what sort of passable bot armies might be unleashed on any of us contrarians if left unsupervised. Much more to explore at the links above.

do a turn or return the twenty-five

Courtesy of our faithful chronicler, we learn that on this day—along with many others of good and great report—in 1970 Mungo Jerry (yes, named after the character from Cats) had their seminal summertime hit when the song topped the charts in the UK.

the pentagon papers

Leaked to the press by military analysist turned activist Daniel Ellsberg who had researched and contributed to the study and recom- mendations to the US government, the Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force was published on this day in 1971, revealing crucially that successive administrations had deceived the public and the US legislature on its prosecution and expansion—mission creep—of the war in South East Asia. The exposé helped inform the growing sentiment opposing the war and intensified the movement against it. Nixon’s hatchetmen (nicknamed the White House plumbers as they were to see about a leak) went after the credibility of Ellsberg and the papers, bringing up charges of treason, which were later dropped during the Watergate investigation as an unlawful intimidation tactic.

7x7

but vaderbase? only you would be so bold: the Rebellion Republic names its military bases

cause célèbre: documenting Russia’s historic gay cultural icons and personalities

false-flag: Trump crafts propaganda from stock photos, labelling random protesters as agents of Antifa

undisclosed location: a tour of the White House bunker, from nineteen-year-old documentary photos provided by the US National Archives

vote hillary: an artist’s prophetic 2016 appeal in the spirit of Andy Warhol’s “Vote McGovern” campaign screen-print

crimes against humanity: Belgium comes to terms with its genocidal colonial past with the help of toppling statues

karens’ personal racism valet: a bevvy of resources on defunding the police and reforming law enforcement

bodice-ripping

In order to keep up with the pace of publication of pulp fiction paperbacks and special interest magazines cover artists and illustrators often turned formulaic, perhaps becoming generic and predictable.
Active from the mid-1950s through the late 1970s and under contract to Man’s Life and True Men Stories, no one embraced and mastered the model and method better than Wilbur (Wil) Hulsey (*1925 – †2015), we learn thanks to Miss Cellania, whose commissions almost invariably consisted of virile man (the gallery’s curator sees a resemblance to David Bowie) defending a distressed damsel (present or implied) from exotic animals, the protagonist himself sustaining bodily damage whilst trying to rebuff the attack. The subgenre of illustrated narrative that Hulsey propagated is sometimes referred to as “Weasels Ripped My Flesh”—though Cannibal Crabs or “Chewed to Bits by Giant Turtles” would do as well, albeit that none other are Frank Zappa song titles.  See more cover art at the links above.

gömböc

From the Hungarian diminutive form of sphere, this distinctive though not uniquely-shaped geometrical construct (see also) has like a Weeble (which wobble but they don’t fall down) or the bumps on the shell of a tortoise the property of righting itself and is defined—when sitting on a flat surface—as having one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium for resting and rocking.

triple-double

Splicing together hundreds of gymnastic sequences into one continuous leap, imaginative artist Donato Sansone (see previously) further explores the choreography of concatenation with this footage of athletes energetically bounding and diving through frame after frame.  Much more to explore at the links above.

loving day

Commemorating the unanimous 1967 decision of the US Supreme Court to strike down prohibitions nationwide on interracial marriage, celebrations are held in honour of the victorious plaintiffs Mildred (née Jeter) and Richard Loving, whom wed in Washington, DC, legally, but found out that they were outlaws once they had returned home to Virginia. Charged with “cohabitating as man and wife against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth,” the young couple pled ignorance to avoid incarceration and agreed to twenty-five years’ exile for clemency. Securing US Attorney General Robert Kennedy as champion, justice prevailed and the recognition and acceptance of mixed-race couples was advanced in America.