exordium and terminus

Charting first at the number one spot in the US and UK on this day in 1969 for a run of several weeks, Zager and Evans’ song with the above parenthetical title was the duo’s only hit. The single was recorded in a single take at a studio in Odessa, Texas in a cattle pasture with members of the city’s symphony orchestra providing backup accompaniment. As the lyrical narrative advances over each successive millennia, the time and key steps up as well. Ain’t gonna need to tell the truth—tell no lies—everything you think, do and say is in the pill you took today.

ales stenar

Sticking to the southern coast, we came to a megalithic so called stone ship (see previously)—a burial setting from the late Nordic Iron Age, most likely, of an oval of colossal stone pillars weighing up to five tonnes with larger ones stern and aft. It’s true purpose a matter of dispute, researchers are divided whether the Ale‘s Stones were primarily a funerary monument, a worship site or a sort of lunisolar calendar as there are points of correspondence throughout the year with the turning of the seasons. 

 The outline of an astral boat, seventy meters long and consisting of fifty-nine boulders,  overlooking the sea reserves some mysteries and projects a certain energy.

would you stay if she promised you heaven?

The eponymous tenth studio album from Fleetwood Mac released on this day in 1975—referred to as their White Album—includes such hit tracks as “Say You Love Me” and “Over My Head” and the below single who takes its title from a strong-minded Otherworld figure from the Welsh legendarium the Mabinogion. Reportedly live performances of Rhiannon took on the earnest theatricality of a possession and exorcism with Stevie Nicks more engrossed by the story of the character the more she learned about her.

tatort, tätort

Arriving in Sweden, our first stop was the Brick Gothic, Art Nouveau town of Ystad that’s the setting of the popular detective series (Skandi-Krimi—whereas the Swedish near homophone just means a locality rather than a crime scene) called Wallander with the eponymous police inspector and enjoyed exploring the old town with mix of eras going back to medieval times plus a well appointed church and monastery. 

Tracing the coastline south, we picked a campground in the pine dunes by the beach at Löderup. Cooking outdoors and pitching the tent and generally roughing it are part of the fun of course and I liked the beach view for doing the dishes. I noticed an innovative use for the ubiquitous IKEA squeegee, Lillnaggen, as a doorstop by camp staff that seemed quite fit to purpose. This campsite was a staging spot for the next day’s agenda with a trip first to the megalithic stone ship, Ale Stenar.

sky rockets in flight

Charting both in the UK and the US, the Starland Vocal Band’s only hit “Afternoon Delight” began its run on this day in 1976, one of the biggest songs of the year. The group which began as a wife and husband duo—Taffy Nivert and Bill Danoff—wrote together with John Denver “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in 1971, eventually expanding into a full musical ensemble with keyboards and guitars and additional singers, and hosted an eponymous variety show on CBS—with David Letterman as a regularly featured writer—the following summer.

=

Coined by Welsh mathematician and physician Robert Recorde (*1512 – †1558), the equal sign (see also) entered common parlance on this day in 1557, and while not inventing +, he introduced the addition sign to England at the same time.
Wanting to avoid repetition in his treatise The Whetsome of Witte, he refers to the shorthand expression of balance as Gemowe lines—twin ones from Latin gemellus, Gemini. Appointed Comptroller of Mines and Monies under Edward VI and Queen Mary in Ireland, Recorde suffered libel from suit of a political enemy and died in a debtors’ prison, but not before leaving a legacy including authoritative works on algebra and geometry as well as the frequently cited Urinal of Physick.

just passing through or something forgotten in the state of denmark

Having the chance to finally realise in some form a trip we'd planned two years ago but had had to defer until now—gingerly, cautiously—due to work and other prior engagements to southern Sweden and we both have given some rather serious consideration for those transit zones that are of course destinations in their own rights and ought to be spared a thought in these trying times.  

Passing the Elba Canal outside of Hamburg and through Schleswig-Holstein and crossed onto the island of Fehmarn via the modernist brige over the sound from the mainland, finished in 1963 and affectionately known as the Clothes Hanger (Kleiderbügel) because of its distinctive girders and trusses.  

 

For an easy morning get away to the ferry to Denmark from Puttgarden, we chose a campsite at the village of Strukkamp, populated by fearless bunnies abd gulls but unable yet to achieve escape velocity just yet from the dreary and driven rain, we were mostly confined to our tent. We crossed the island, storied itself and one beach music festival in September 1970 that was the venue for Jimi Hendrix‘ last concert performance and stopped in the eponymous insular capital, called locally Burg. Arriving at the seaport, we realised it was our second time only seeing Denmark from the expressway and pledge to make a proper visit to all of these places one day soon.  Crossing on the monumental Øresundsbroen /  Öresundbrücke (previously) bypassing Copenhagen and likewise skirting Malmö upon arrival in Sweden.

Having the chance to finally realise in some form a trip we'd planned two years ago but had had to defer until now—gingerly, cautiously—due to work and other prior engagements to southern Sweden and we both have given some rather serious consideration for those transit zones that are of course destinations in their own rights and ought to be spared a thought in these trying times. Passing the Elba Canal outside of Hamburg and through Schleswig-Holstein and crossed onto the island of Fehmarn via the modernist brige over the sound from the mainland, finished in 1963 and affectionately known as the Clothes Hanger (Kleiderbügel) because of its distinctive girders and trusses. For an easy morning get away to the ferry to Denmark from Puttgarden, we chose a campsite at the village of Strukkamp, populated by fearless bunnies abd gulls but unable yet to achieve escape velocity just yet from the dreary and driven rain, we were mostly confined to our tent.

We crossed the island, storied itself and one beach music festival in September 1970 that was the venue for Jimi Hendrix‘ last concert performance and stopped in the eponymous insular capital, called locally Burg. Arriving at the seaport, we realised it was our second time only seeing Denmark from the expressway and pledge to make a proper visit to all of these places one day soon. Crossing on the monumental Øresundsbroen / Öresundbrücke (previously) bypassing Copenhagen and likewise skirting Malmö upon arrival in Sweden.

old rough and ready

Zachary Taylor having finally expired after an excruciating bout of indigestion from an ill-advised repast of milk and cherries on the during an especially hot Independence Day celebration, his vice president Millard Fillmore, once a contender for the distinction of being the worst ever to hold high office, Whig and backed by the nativist Know Nothing Party, but still a solid runner-up, assumed the presidency on this day in 1850.

Immediately dismissing the cabinet of predecessor, whom largely ignored Fillmore and held little ideology in common, to lobby congress for the passage of the package of bills known as the Compromise of 1850, which was seen as a concession to slave-states and enforced the law that would return fugitive enslaved people to those who claimed ownership of them anywhere within American borders. This appeasement postponed the outbreak of civil war and established the expectation of even-handed enfranchisement that continues to characterise American politics. Moreover, Fillmore was the architect for foisting trade on Japan and forcing them to open relations with the outside world and the overthrow and eventual annexation of Hawaii.