弁当

Present /&/ Correct showcases a nice collection of vintage ekiben wrappers—a portmanteau of the words for railway and bento boxed meals (駅弁).
The latter came from a Chinese term meaning convenience and around since at least the thirteenth century. Though there was a decline in quality and artfulness of these prepared snacks for train passengers with quicker journeys and the increased popularity of flying, ekiban are seeing a revival as on onboard food option and have since been at least offered as take-away fare inside stations, department stores and airports. Given this longevity (prior to the age of transporation), these boxes are bearers of a lot of culture, expectations and performance and several other specialty types have been developed, including shidashi—a catered meal ate a social occasion like a wedding or a funeral, kyaraben—a bento meant to resemble a favourite cartoon character, and a shikaeshiben (仕返し弁)—that is, a revenge bento, where the preparer uses the boxed lunch to get back at the recipient by writing confessions or insults in the food or by making it inedible or possibly poisoned.

castagno dei cento cavalli

In one of the first official acts recognising and treasuring the environment, the Royal Court of Sicilian Heritage (Tribunale dell’Ordine del Real Patrimonio di Sicilia) inscribed the Hundred Horse Chestnut into rolls of protected property on this day in 1745.
The four-thousand-year old tree on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna (perhaps owing its longevity to rich volcanic soil—all the more so because of its precarious location) is believed to be the oldest in existence. Recorded as having the greatest girth—having split into a grove multiple trunks above ground, the tree received its name after local lore relating that when Queen Juana I of Castilla (called La Loca) passed through with her large entourage of knights, the entire company was able to shelter under its boughs during a thunderstorm. This venerable tree is a sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), whereas a horse chestnut is a close-cousin.

hanging chad

Prior to the introduction of paper balloting, polities in the United States cast their vote in a variety of fashions including standing on opposite sides of the road during a roll-call or signifying one’s support with kernels of corn, and as we learn from this review from Hyperallergic prior to the advent of secret voting straight party ballots were dispatched by political parties to the faithful of Alicia Yin Cheng’s study This What Democracy Looked Like and the evolution of the enduring, ephemeral tools of voting from the perspective of history and graphic design. It is interesting how typography and format can be used to nudge and obfuscate and how the dazzle and economy of space reveals the complexities of the law and hierarchy of elected office. Much more to explore at the link above.

comrade gulliver

Print Magazine’s regular feature, The Daily Heller, introduces us to the Marxist and committed social justice activist whose polemic art illustrated the American Socialist movement of the 1930s and 1940s through his project, which the author, Hugo Gellert (Grünbaum Hugó, *1892 – 1985) declares as direct descendant and philosophical heir to Jonathan Swift’s satirical Lemuel Gulliver (see previously), with his misadventures in the strange lands of the United States were “even more fantastic than the experiences of my forefather” far more arbitrary and unaccountable than any government or class-structure that the Blefuscudians could imagine. The Budapest native was also was a staff artist for The New Yorker and later for such political periodicals as The Liberator and New Masses. The comic goes on to explore various aspects of capriciousness of station and labour and the inequities in America through the lens of a befuddled outsider and through this lightly shaded allegory highlights the mortal failings of the system and underpinnings of capitalism. Much more to explore at the link up top.

congregation de cultu divino et disciplina sacramentorum

Giving affected religious orders, nations, provinces cities and villages six years to decide whom they would choose, the Roman Curia’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, whose responsibilities include regulating relics and the confirmation of heavenly patrons and researching cases of non-consummation as grounds for annulment, issued an edict on this day in 1970 that any of the above listed groups were to henceforth claim only one saint’s patronage. At the time the decree was announced, Italy, as was the case with many other polities, had both Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Catherine of Siena.

ravenmaster

Via compatriot internet caretaker Nag on the Lake, we learn that troublingly the Tower of London’s resident corvids (see previously) are straying from their home, uncaptivated and driven to distraction by the lack of tourist traffic.
While lore holds that Charles II in 1675 just after the restoration of the monarchy (I wouldn’t take any chances either) first ordered the ravens to be cared for after receiving the prophesy that the crown and tower would both crumble if the birds departed, others source the mythology as a Victorian bit of whimsy, whom were rather probably more morbidly attracted to the spot in the first place due to all the executions and encouraged to remain because their scavenging habits that kept the place tidy. Whatever the case, I hope they’re not compelled to stray too far and that the crowds can return soon.

avgustovskiy putch

Opposed to the decentralisation and reform efforts of the Soviet president and General Secretary of the Communist Party, Communist hardliner elements in the government attempted a coup d'état beginning on this day at noon in 1991 to remove Mikhail Gorbachev (see previously) with the Moscow military district commander declaring martial law in effect and signaling an imminent siege on the parliamentary compound (Белый дом—that is, the White House). Allies of the Gorbachev government barricaded the building and rebuffed the attack, codenamed Operation Grom—that is, thunder. Whilst these events unfolded—a power vacuum that lasted sixty hours, Estonia declared its independence with the other Baltic states following soon after.

umarèl

Via the always engrossing Futility Closet—which has, in addition to its regular podcast, returned to blogging with a fervour after a hiatus, we learn a Bolognese term that refers to retired gentlemen who pass time at roadworks and other construction sites supervising and disbursing advise to the crew.
The word meaning “little man,” it has picked up use around Italy since a 2005 book employed the term and not just in the one region and often with the female equivalent żdåura, an umarell’s wife. While the subject of gentle derision, developers and municipalities often are willing to pay a small stipend in exchange for their scrutiny and quality-control.