fuchsia splendens

Though our prized exemplar did not make it through the winter sadly, we did rather find it interesting to learn how this plant of the month, the fuchsia, died of an over-exposure of a different sort though its reputation is now somewhat rehabilitated. First described by a French friar and botanist under commission of Louis XIV stationed on Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in the 1690s, the genus was named in honour of the German Renaissance researcher and professor Leonhart Fuchs of the previous century and considered one of the fathers of the field. In the following decades, it started to be cultivated in Europe and parallel the rise in cheap printing and lithography which resulting in multiple copies from the same prepared page easily reproduced without sacrificing the colour and detail that the flower highlighted and quickly became popular, and oversold eventually victim of its own success. While a number of enthusiasts and nurseries continued to experiment with breeding new types, public tastes were shifting, ultimately went for other novel plants including ferns, orchids, decorative palms and other ornamental plants.

i wanna hear those sugar bells ring

Reaching top spot on the American Hot R&B/Hip-Hop song charts on this day in 1988, Wishing Well from singer and songwriter Terence Trent D’Arby—now known as Sananda Maitreya having meditated for a new identity after the slow, agonising albeit noble death of his former self in October of 2001. Expressing high opinion of his debut album, D’Arby said it was the most significant recording since Sgt. Pepper, ultimately paid off.

cartel teatral

Print Magazine’s regular column The Daily Heller directs our attention to the brilliant graphic design of Uruguayan artists through the growing collection of a poster archive that sources from several studios and independent illustrators to curate and present an impressive gallery of book and record covers, advertising and promotional works that encourages individuals to act as docents and donators themselves and search, gather and submit their own ephemeral finds to the collection.

vss imagine

Expanding its fleet of suborbital space planes with a third vehicle, Virgin Galactic has commenced test flights with its chromed, mirrored craft that’s reminiscent of a space ship from Buck Rogers or Perry Rhodan and has a superb retro-future aesthetic. More at Design Boom at the link above.

an elaborate hoax

The fictive archipelago shaped like a semi-colon and full of puns related to printing and fonts, the Guardian featured a seven-page supplement (see also) celebrating a decade of independence for the nation of San Serriffe, discussing the island’s history, economy and tourism with in-depth articles. Originally it was to be positioned in the Atlantic neighbouring Tenerife but a tragic airline disaster a few days prior prompted the newspaper’s editorial board to move it to the Indian Ocean, near the Seychelles. In an era before desktop publishing and the wide adoption of home computers, the terminology of typefaces was specialists’ jargon and most readers would have missed the jokes.

de twee bruidegommen

Passed by the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) of the States General and affirmed by the Senate during the December before, same-sex marriage (Homohuwelijk) became legal in the Netherlands on this day in 2001, the first country in modern times to sanction and recognise marriage equality. Registered partnerships were introduced on New Year’s 1998 as an alternative for homosexual couples, which under the law convey the same rights, duties and responsibilities as matrimony, and have since become nearly as popular as civil marriage among heterosexual couples as well.

the abominable doctor phibes

Via Messy Nessy Chic and premiering in UK theatres this month back in 1971, this comedy-horror film starring Vincent Price (previously here and here), Joseph Cotton and Virginia North with its melodrama, arch, dark humour, a solid soundtrack, sequels planned and Art Deco scenery that harks back to an earlier time makes this Robert Fuest vehicle a cult classic. The eponymous doctor of theology and classical organist is thought to have died in an automobile accident in the Swiss alps in 1921 whilst rushing back to attend to his dying wife, killed in Phibes’ opinion by incompetency during surgery. Horribly disfigured and disabled, Phibes survives the crash and reconstructs himself with prosthetics and restores his voice-box to resurface in London. With the perfect alibi, Phibes along with his silent accomplice called Vulnavia exacts revenge on the surgical team responsible for his wife’s death, taking inspiration from the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the Old Testament, killing his victims with ravenous locust, frogs, raining blood, etc.

a baneful herb

In a quite round-about way, I learned the identity of these plants that appear in the woods in early spring: hellebore (Nieswurz) also called Lenten roses due to the timing is a type of buttercup that is mildly toxic and eschewed by most, distasteful and deadly in sufficient quantities and dangerous to touch. Sometimes recommended as a purgative in traditional medicine, the plant can also cause a host of horrible things including the birth-defect of cyclopia, characterised by the failure to properly divide the eyes into two orbits, tinnitus, vertigo and slowing heart rate, and though commended in Greek mythology as a curative for madness and possession including releasing the princesses of Argos from the spell of the Maenads and the inducements of Dionysus modern witchcraft does not endorse its use beyond the wild and ornamental.