The global observance of Esperanto Day (Esperanto-Tago, see previously) falls on this the anniversary of the publication of the first book (Unua Libro) in the constructed auxillary language by author, activist and linguist Ludoviko Lazaro Zamenhof in Russia in 1887 under the pseudonym Doctor Esperanto. Before the end of the year, there were also Polish, French and German versions of this grammar which attempted to resolve international problems by couching them in a common and intelligible language.
Sunday, 26 July 2020
dum spiro spero
Saturday, 25 July 2020
theophrastan model or on character and caricature
Via Strange Company’s Weekend Link Dump (much more to explore here), we are given the opportunity to revisit our familiar and enduring cast of personality tropes, stock characters first put forward by Aristotle’s student Tyrtamus, given the honourific by his teacher Theophrastus “divine speaker” for his eloquent writing and lucid observation in the fourth century BC and resound still throughout the ages to this day.
Though specialising in botanical studies and dabbling a bit in all the liberal arts, Theophrastus is best known for his character sketches (แผจฮธฮนฮบฮฟแฝถ ฯฮฑฯฮฑฮบฯแฟฯฮตฯ) that class virtually every fictional and real life protagonist, couched in termsone’s virtues, faults and hubris. Though ancient and fixed, inflexible, they are sustained not only throughout the arc of narrative that they’ve been dealt but also throughout the centuries because their dispositions, relatable though one dimensional they might be, give us the extras needed to limn a society—and we recognise others in them, the Grumbler, the Boaster, the Slanderer even if we fail to see ourselves.
there is an old vulcan proverb
With no sense of irony, the US Secretary of State announced during a speech earlier in the week delivered at the Richard Milhous Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, that the “old paradigm of blind engagement with China” had become untenable, and subsequently closed and ordered the expulsion of diplomatic staff in its consulate in Houston—characterising the operation as hub for industrial espionage.
Outside the embassy in Washington, DC the Texas compound was the first for China once relations had been normalised in 1979. In response, Chinese officials ordered the closure of the American consulate in the city of Sichuan capital Chengdu (see previously). These heightened tensions come on top of ongoing trade disputes and deflecting the failure of the US to contain the spread of COVID-19 infections by vociferously blaming China.
cuckoo for cucuphas
Despite the Phoenician name meaning “he who likes to joke,” we could find little humour in the hagiography of the saint venerated on this day in France and Spain (though some places postponed until 27 July due to the feast of his compatriot Saint James, the Santiago).
From a wealthy merchant family in Carthage, Cucuphas (*269 – †304) travelled to Barcelona to find converts and aid the Christian community through trade and commerce, gaining a reputation as charitable and a miracle worker. Martyred during the Diocletian persecutions, Cucuphas and his companions were imprisoned by the Roman governor of Iberia, whom unwisely ordered him tortured to prolong his death since the succession of torments backfired through heavenly intervention. The saint was finally dispatched with the coup de grรขce of a sword to the throat. Though the association is lost to the ages, Cucuphas is the patron of those suffering from kyphosis (hunchbacks) and petty thieves—and there is a folk practise, arising presumably from the litany of tortures he endured, of praying to the saint for the return of misplaced belongings—symbolically making knots in handkerchief that represent the testicles of the Cucuphas and threatening not to untie them until the lost object is found.
semper supra
The US Space Force has revealed its reworked, official logo (see previously) that’s a bit less derivative and infringing on Star Fleet, replacing the version unveiled in January, albeit this one is just the Pontiac logo rotated 180ยบ but we can leave that to General Motors’ lawyers and the Space Judge Advocate General to sort out. Be best!
web-based encyclopedia
Though launched as a website back in March of that year and defunct since September 2003, the pioneering venture from Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger published its first reference article on this day in 2000—on atonal music.
Compiled by volunteers like its successor Wikipedia, Nupedia was intended as free content but plans were in place to run advertisements and generate revenue on the platform. It was not until November 2000 that the second full length article (on the Western canon of classical music) was ready but not for lack of submissions and rather an overly lengthy peer-review and vetting process.
Friday, 24 July 2020
el topo
Meaning The Mole in Spanish, with direction, scoring and starring Alejandro Jodorowsky in the titular role, the genre-defining acid Western is a cult classic—one of the first midnight screenings—enjoys many prominent devotees ranging from Yoko Ono to Kanye West and everyone in between. Bizarre as the film about a gunslinger’s quest for enlightenment who bests his philosophical betters through luck and treachery rather than skill is aiming to leave an indelible imprint on the audience from a creator that eschews psychedelics as superfluous, it is considered to be Jodorowsky’s most accessible and enduringly popular. Learn more from BBC Culture at the link above
