hans ø

Namesake of Hans Hendrik, Arctic explorer and Kalaallit interpreter, whom in Greenlandic was called Suersaq, the small island (Tartupaluk, Île Hans, ᑕᕐᑐᐸᓗᒃ) in the Nares Strait with no permanent human presence is disputed territory, claimed by both Greenland (and Denmark which represents the autonomous realm in foreign affairs) and Canada.
While the legal status of Hans Island does carry consequences for the range of both countries territorial waters in terms of drilling and fishing rights and negotiations continue, practically it is administered as a condominium—with the imaginary border bisecting the island and delegations from Canada and Denmark periodically visiting, upsetting the opposing flag and depositing a bottle of signature libations for the trouble, waging a “whiskey war.” More to explore at Messy Nessy Chic at the link up top.

beltway

Incorporating two pre-existing settlements of Alexandria in the state of Virginia and Georgetown in Maryland, with a survey team delineating the boundaries (see previously), a new federal city was constructed on the northern bank of the Potomac—the overseeing commissioners named their capital on this day in 1791 in honour of President George Washington, the district called Columbia—the feminine post-classical Latin form of Cristoforo Columbo and a toponym to mirror Britannia, et al.

noncensorship

The eponymous volume compiled in 1922 as an anthology by G P Putnam & Sons contextualises and nobly attempts to take down the censorious and puritanical atmosphere that informed the United States throughout not only the era of prohibition but moreover the framework to manage and maintain the domestic motion picture output and throughput. Wallace Irving, Ben Hecht and Dorothy Parker (previously) are among the contributing commentators on the State of the Union.

creative-control

Via Messy Nessy Chic’s peripatetic exploration, we are directed towards the instantly and inchoately iconic photo shoots of fashion designer, parfumeur and avid body-builder Manfred Thierry Mugler who famously framed his models draped in his signature futuristic haute couture during the mid-1980’s on landmarks and national monuments to evoke a statement of style that is surpassing in terms of both subject and backdrop. Fast-fashion, pret-â-porter and functional fragrances pushed him to a premature, semi-retirement but there’s a new anthology that presents a retrospective of Mugler’s extensive portfolio with more to explore at the links above.

7x7

bouncing here and there and everywhere: a Finnish maths rocks band—via Things Magazine

wrr-fm: the strange and wonderful account of the first radio station in Texas—via Miss Cellania’s Links

infinity kisses: Carolee Schneemann (*1939 – †2019) experimental montage of her smooching her cats

smashedmouths: an all deep fake rendition of All Star using wav2lip subroutine—via Waxy

the medium is the message: hunting down the first mention of cybersex

eeo: Trump bans diversity training, citing them as divisive, engendering resentment and fundamentally un-American

recessive traits: heredity illustrated with gummy bears

906 turbo

The always interesting Nag on the Lake directs our attention to a beast of a sedan in this custom six-wheeler constructed by designer and company engineer Leif Mellberg.
Completed in 1984, it was fully equipped with a video screen, a sixteen-speaker stereo system, a police band monitor and refrigerator whose colossal scale recalls these airport stretch limousines, through this model never went into production and became a mobile advertisement for Mellberg’s side business refurbishing Saabs.

ir-rewwixta tal-qassisin

Though suppressed by the Soverign Order of Saint John (SMOM—see also here and here, the Knights Hospitaller) who controlled the island after a few hours, the 1775 rebellion known as the Rising of the Priests was undertaken on this day by the clergy advocating for the Maltese people for a series of austerity measures instituted by Grand Master Francisco Ximenes de Texada in an attempt to replenish the Order’s treasury.
The unpopular cost-savings steps introduced included severe reductions in public spending, regressive tax hiks that made wheat and other staples unaffordable and a ban on rabbit-hunting (fenek tax-xiber) for commoners and preserving the right exclusively for the members of the Order. This date was picked for the revolt knowing that most ships would be at sea and coincided with the anniversary and festivities of the the Knights lifting the Ottoman siege in 1565. A group of thirteen priests took Fort Saint Elmo but were eventually overpowered. Some of the co-conspirators were imprisoned afterward in this same fortification at the northern tip of Valetta, three of the principle organisers being executed with the rest being sent into exile. The Order continued to rule the island until it was annexed by Napoleon in 1798, remanded to a British Protectorate through the second world war, finally attaining independence on 21 September 1964.

katsintithu

Via Everlasting Blört, we enjoyed looking through this 1903 gallery of Hopi Kachina as rendered by an artist known as Kutcahanauu (White Bear) and published in a 1903 volume commissioned as part of an ethnographic study of tribal culture. The animistic spirit beings—revered and respected but not worshipped—have three distinct manifestations: the supernatural, the dance and the figurines (tihü), the likeness or personification of real world people, things and forces of nature and are understood to have relationships, unions and offspring. The figurines act as messengers between the natural and spirit worlds and have an instructive aspect for their caretakers. Much more to explore at the links above.