6x6

fast car: the timelessness of Tracy Chapman’s ballad

call me trim tab: inspiring words from Buckminster Fuller (previously)

call of the wild: New Guinea’s singing dogs are not extinct outside of the captive population after all—via Nag on the Lake with bonus content

brick and mortem: a thoughtful reflection on the disappearing traditional high street, via Things Magazine

syncopation: time-lapse films of plants sprouting with a jazzy musical accompaniment

shine bright like a diamond: researchers in Bristol create betavoltaic batteries out of nuclear waste and gemstones that could last for millennia—see previously

divinisation or pompatus of love

We enjoyed reading this short, collective hagiography that profiles several saints named Hyacinth, including one from Fara: “A martyr about whom nothing is known,” but we were more intrigued by the footnote for namesake flower (Giancinto, Jacinto, Hyakithos) and its mythological origins in a handsome Spartan prince and his fatal love-triangle.
Hyacinth was the lover of Apollo, but he had the attention and advances of a host of other suitors including the famous Thracian singer Thamyris, Zephyrus and Boreas—respectively the West and North Winds. Hyacinth preferred the company of Apollo and together in a chariot drawn by swans, they had adventures. While playing a round of frisbee (discus), Hyacinth was struck in the head and perished, the eponymous blossom rising up where his blood was spilled—a trope appropriated by Christianity as a symbol of renewal. Devastated Apollo blamed himself but there is strong suspicion that the winds conspired to punish the prince out of jealousy, and the god wanted himself to become mortal to join him after his healing powers failed him. The Spartan month that coincided with early summer when the flowers bloom was named in his honour and included three days of festivities. Hyacinth was eventually resurrected and joined the pantheon of the gods. This attainment of godhood is apotheosis and usually in Antiquity heroes were accorded local status alone, whereas in Imperial Rome, a deceased ruler was generally recognised by his success, decree of the senate and popular consent—though some ridiculed this practise as it also included the corrupt and inept—satirised by referring to the tradition with another Greek borrowing apocolocyntosis—that is, pumpkinification with accompanying lampoon that features Claudius and Caligula in the underworld.

sacrorum antistitum

Rescinded in 1967, Pope Pius X instituted the requirement, motu proprio, on this day in 1910 that all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries of the Catholic church take his oath against modernism—that is the attempt to reconcile church doctrine with contemporary culture and norms.
An earlier encyclical by Pius, Pascendi Dominic gregis (Feeding the Lord’s Flock) brought the term to prominence and made it a matter of debate, especially vexed by scholars that insisted that the church could no longer ignore scientific evidence that ran counter to a literal interpretation of the Bible. To be sworn by all parties above, the clauses include rejecting “that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists…” While overturned by the curia and no longer mandatory, some organisations offer this pledge on a voluntary basis.

mayday

Via the always excellent Kottke, we learn more about the lifeboat that Banksy (previously) has financed to patrol the Mediterranean waters and come to the aid of those in distress.
The M.V. Louise Michel (her namesake being the author and grand dame of feminism, social justice and anarchy, *1830 – †1905) is a retired French naval vessel outfitted for rescue operations and is professionally crewed—with a flat hierarchy and a vegan diet. From their mission statement: “We answer the SOS call of all those in distress, not just to save their souls—but our own.” Learn more at the links above.

petit gâteau

Via the always fabulous Everlasting Blört, we are treated to the highly satisfying comparison thread we didn’t know we needed in English actor Tom Hiddleston juxtaposed with the almond meringue confection macarons (macaroons—French words borrowed into English in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were given an –oon ending) that mirror his wardrobe. A macron, on the other hand, is a genus of sea slugs in deference to this other series of comparative images.

toy cabin construction

Among many other events of great pith and circumstance that share this anniversary, as our faithful chronicler informs, John Lloyd Wright—son of the famed architect—was issued a patent (see also) for what would become Lincoln Logs on this day in 1920. The inspiration for the interlocking design was based the beams of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, created by his father, to sustain an earthquake—which it did in 1923 Great Kanto seismic event (1 September) that levelled much of the city.

7x7

the trouble shooter: a truly bizarre and blessed vintage cartoon

single-camera setup: more lockdown sitcom episodes from Poseidon’s Underworld

far from the madding crowd: a backyard shed that’s the ultimate weekend, quarantine project—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links

sidebar: the hobby and craft chain Michael’s has a community chatroom that’s become an affirming if not wild forum—via Waxy

kingston’s good ghosts: an Art Deco inspired (see also) custom roadster

rave cave: party-goers in an Olso bunker hospitalised for carbon monoxide poisoning

obscure media: Miss Cellania’s Video of the Day “Robot Love” from a decade ago

porozumienia sierpniowe

Today celebrates the August Agreement—otherwise known as the Gdańsk Social Accords—reached on the last day of August in 1980 between striking dockworkers on the Baltic and the Polish government over untenable demands, poor working conditions and continual shortages of essentials. The labour strikes had the immediate effect of changing the country’s leadership and revealed endemic corruption and mismanagement that had culminated in the dysfunctional economy and legislature and further led to reforms in the market, freedom of expression, civil rights and launched the Solidarity Movement.