palais bulles

Originally commissioned for French industrialist Pierre Bernard, the villa overlooking the bay of Cannes designed by Hungarian architect Antti Lovag (*1920 - †2014), the Bubble Palace (see also), an ensemble consisting of various swimming pools, water elements, an amphitheatre and ten living units in Théoule-sur-Mer, was acquired by recently departed fashion mogul Pierre Cardin as a holiday home. It is now up for auction. Much more to discover at the link above and the property’s French language web site.

blast shield

On the six-month anniversary of the explosion that rocked the city of Beirut, we are directed towards an appreciation over the over-engineered, monolithic grain silo in the harbour, made to withstand not only the bombardment of the wind and sea but also the pressure and possibility of dust explosions, whose eastern-facing cylinders sustained and deflected the brunt of the powerful shock wave, sparing the port and the city even more destruction. The design of this half-a-century old piece of infrastructure stands—though battered—in stark contrast to the mismanagement and cronyism that resulted in the deadly and debilitating detonation and should be preserved as a monument to recovery and reform.

¡ay caramba!

We enjoyed this news segment from 1990 about some school districts banning Simpsons t-shirts and other merchandise over messaging and to assuage parents’ fears that such taglines might stoke rebellion. There’s some real Stranger Danger and Satanic Panic energy (a vibe that unfortunately is pretty tenacious) in the reporting—by a national media outlet—and some heavy moralising with the profusion of marketing tie-ins including bootleg goods (see source link above) that came out with the phenomenon not even a year old.

[the facebook]

With origins in a website called “Facemash” which culled photographs and profiles of students from nine sorority houses on the campus of Harvard University published in the campus’ face books—a callbook or an annual distributed shortly after matriculation to help students get to know one another and presented them to be rated in terms of attractiveness circulated on the schools listservs that nearly got its author expelled violating individual privacy and breaching the network host’s security protocols, Mark Zuckerberg generously offered to digitise the student directory as a universal face book within Harvard. The university agreed and website thefacebook.com was launched on this day in 2004. Though membership was initialled limited to the college, the speed and spread of registration soon saw expansion to other prestigious universities and shortly thereafter most schools in the United States and Canada.

fainting couch

With due deference to one of the greatest historical armchair adventurers and confinement veterans Xavier de Maistre, we quite enjoyed this thoughtful and thoroughgoing essay from Hunter Dukes on the postures of transportation and how cushion and cortege and increasing sophistication in seating and upholstery parallels literary conventions and enabled one to truly escape one’s surroundings and mentally travel to new worlds. Consider that one popular design for a chaise longue was an asymmetrical day-bed called le Méridienne, a sloping affair made for a mid-day rest. Like a modern gaming chair, one’s sedentary comforts influence and inform one’s imagination and engagement and a gauge of one’s willingness to let the world come to them. Much more from Public Domain Review at the link above.

the revolution will be televised—albeit as a backdrop for an aerobics video livestream

First spotted by friend of the blog, Nag on the Lake, several days ago—we had questions and wanted to let it process a bit, unsure exactly what was going on here. After going viral and subject to the ordeal of accusations that it was faked, cheeky or somehow conspiratorial, the Physical Education teacher and trainer in Naypyitaw was interviewed about her accidental filming of the convoy of military vehicles in the background and ensuing coup d’état which was not going to interrupt her routine. There’s a lively and ongoing discussion about the veracity of the clip on the Twitter thread—with most signs indicating it is authentic—and moreover the serious underpinning discussion of the overthrow of government through military uprising parallel. The workout video was an entry to a daily competition organised and sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Sports that encourages people to record themselves doing aerobics under a certain hashtag and share to social media. A collusion of circumstances, including social distancing, afore-mentioned coup that created spotty connectivity in Myanmar’s capital throughout the day and effective news blackout, the assumption that the tanks and SUVs were added security for the opening session of parliament. To add another dimension to this strange milieu, the song, incidentally, “Ampun Bang Jago,” has become a protest anthem against the Indonesian government—the Malay sarcastically translating to “forgive me, master” and meant to mock authorities.

your daily demon: haures

This sixty-fourth spirit—also known as Flauros probably on account of a scribal error, and presents as a svelte leopard, probably our most Furry-like infernal encounter yet judging by written depictions but you’ll need to use your imagination, is a great duke and if summoned correctly will reveal the truth about all things—elsewise he equivocates and lies just as convincingly. Commanding thirty-six legions and governing from toward until the eighth of February and is opposed by the archangel Mehriel. Incidentally, the names of the corresponding angels are derived from a “seventy-two fold name,” a Kabbalistic cipher describing a hidden name of God—the Shem HaMephorash ( שם המפורש), which is some forms of Satanism is ritualistically employed in the form “shemhamforash” as anti-hallelujah or amen and understood as “Hail Satan.”

♘,♞

We quite enjoyed learning about this chessboard designed in 1922 by Bauhaus artist Josef Hartwig, teacher and head of the sculptural arts department until 1925, whose pieces help one intuit their range of motion and rank (see also) that masterfully reflect the form-follows-function sensibilities of the movement through their elegant geometry. Two versions were available on the market, one “daily use” version (Gebrauchsspiel) and a second Luxusspiel with figured turned from more exotic wood but most consumers were already priced out by the cheaper model. Learn more from Open Culture at the link above.