unanimiter et constanter

Fêted on this day as the patron saint of Oslo, Hallvard Vebjørnsson (†1043) is venerated as a martyr for his violent death in defence of a pregnant slave woman (thrall or trell, see also).
The son and heir to a wealthy estate in Vikin in the south-eastern part of the kingdom near the capital region and relative of Saint Olaf, Hallvard believed in the professed innocence of the women in face of accusations of theft and attempted to ferry her to safety aboard his boat. The accusers killed them both with a volley of arrows, disposing of the woman on the shore they had sailed to, and realising that Hallvard’s absence would arouse suspicion, they tied a millstone around his neck to ensure the body could be sunk without a trace. Miraculous and inopportunely for the assailants, however, Hallvard’s corpse bobbed to the surface and revealed the men’s crimes. The contemporary coat of arms of the Norwegian capital portrays this iconography—this day also celebrated as Oslo-dagen, with the motto Unanimous and Constant.

your daily demon: sitru

This twelfth infernal prince governing from today until 20 May presents as a griffon and is also known as Set or Bitru—the former possibly a conflation with the god of ancient Egypt. Ruling sixty legions and countered by the angel Hahaiah, Sitru’s sigil is an aphrodisiac of sorts and it can compel people to disrobe, if so desired.

fig leaf

Writing for Æon magazine prehistorian Ian Gilligan from the University of Sydney proffers an interesting alternative theory to the rather labour-intensive and leisure limiting congress of development of agriculture and animal husbandry that it emerged not out of a need for sustenance—hunter-gatherers were happy campers in the above regard (see below) and it was more efficient and less taxing on the environment—but rather out of an urgent need for fibre and pelts with layering and insulation being what brought humans to the other side of the last ice age with an expanded range that would eventually dominate the whole Earth—though the dinosaurs and their highly-achieving avian ancestors might take exception to that claim. Because threads of evidence would quickly fade away, much of this proposal is speculative but rings true and seems like a plausible catalyst to protect our relatively hairless bodies from the harsh elements and lend us to the attendant toil. More at the links above.

obscenicons

We really enjoyed revisiting the maledicta of grawlixes and the like (previously) from the always excellent Shady Characters as developed by Mort Walker’s lexicon and learn a bit more of the visual vernacular with jarns (🌀), quimps and nittles that mask the curses and waftaroms and indotherms that represent fragrant smells. More to explore at the links above.

glyceria

Meaning sweetness and sharing her feast day with the apparition of Our Lady of Fátima, the second century saint compelled to pray to a sculpture of Jupiter which turned to dust by her faith, for which she was sentenced to be torn asunder by wild animals. Glyceria expired, however, before she could be served. Interestingly, especially in light of the minor craze that erupted a few years ago over the chance to drink the mummy juice—sewage found in Egyptian sarcophagi, the relics of Glyceria are counted among the myroblytes, those whose remains (sometimes their icons as well as their coffins) exude the holy and healing Oil of the Saints.

party on the patio

We quite enjoyed this series of artful photographs taken from a bird’s eye perspective of these vintage mosaic tile and concrete outdoor furnishings as captured by Jonathan Tan of Singapore’s public housing shared balconies. Put in context, these bright tables and stools reflect the optimism of the city-state’s Housing & Development Board’s efforts to help alleviate a housing crisis and foster a communal spirit and encourage neighbours to dine together on the decks. More at the link above.

nighty-nite

Via Boing Boing, we are referred to a simple, self-coordinating, synchronising programme conceived by Masamichi Souzou, a company championing happiness and well-being, that allows one to put to bed their website—according to the visitors’ time-zones, the kanji top-level domain suffix, みんな, being everyone—like a physical store or business branch with workers who need rest and recuperation and signal the importance of adequate sleep and highlight the forces and diversions that make us indebted in terms of something so fundamental as adequate shut-eye.

6x6

sounds to me like someone’s got a cases of the s’posedas: an interesting look at wanna, gunna, gotta  

gable top: Japanese milk carton graphic art  

jim jordan is a scary twit whose scandals are quite crass: Bette Midler performs an homage to Mary Poppins with her “GOPs a Cult for Scammer, Liars, Thugs and Traitors” 

 yacht boy problems: Jeff Bezos’ super yacht requires its own support ship  

the green knight: the cinematic adaptation of Sir Gawain’s tale to be released this summer  

recto-verso: a look at early printing and pagination standards and practises