and anytime you feel the pain, hey jude, refrain (10. 121)

Originating as a song written by Paul McCartney as a way to lift the spirits of John Lennon’s young son Julian (“Hey Jules”) when his parents were going through a divorce and a time of general turmoil for the band, the non-album single (see previously) was The Beatles’ first release on their Apple record label and quickly climbed to number one on the UK charts on this day in 1968—having just been put out two weeks prior. At just over seven minutes (with the full choruses), the group’s fiftieth top hit domestically was up until that time the longest piece to hold this distinction. Here is McCartney at 1997’s Music for Monserrat charity concert joined by Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and Mark Knopfler and find the first version at the link above.

c iii r (10. 120)

 

Already monarch at the moment of his successor’s passing (the Demise of the Crown being the legal term) as relayed in that coda that can seem crass and contradictory, “The Queen is dead, long live the King,” Charles III (cipher above) is formally proclaimed king during an ancient ceremony steeped in tradition (televised for the first time) in St James’ Palace. The Accession Council (consisting of chosen members of the privy council) who delivers the public proclamation, also delivered by appointed criers in the Royal Exchange, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition to delivering a personal declaration about Elizabeth II and supporting a grieving world and pledging to for continuance of government and makes an oath to preserve the Church of Scotland due to the division of powers of church and state for that nation.

interstate love song (10. 119)

Released on this day in 1994 and topping the US charts just a week later, the Stone Temple Pilots single ranks as one of the best hard rock songs of all time. Borrowing chord-progression from the 1973 Jim Croce hit I Got a Name, the power ballad dealt with the singer and songwriter Scott Weiland (*1967 - †2015) hiding his heroine addiction and how those who cared about him would receive his cover-up: “Waiting on a Sunday afternoon for what I read between the lines—your lies—feeling like a hand in rusted chain, so do you laugh or does it cry? Reply!”

rip your majesty

From a brief statement from Buckingham Palace: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

6x6 (10. 117)

command authorisation code: the timing of the Artemis (previously) launch hinges in part due to its self-destruct system  

best in show: an painting generated by an algorithm won first prize in a competition at a state fair, prompting philosophical questions  

greenday moment: instead of tearing down those out of the loop, bring them up to speed  

cauldron computing: researchers propose liquid crystal machine whose calculations move like ripples through water 

$ape: two American states introduce legislation to tax NFTs  

speculoos: researchers at the University of Liège discover (see previously) discover two Super-Earths

sternstaub (10. 116)

Having sold over two billion novellas (Heftroman) worldwide since the publication of its first edition (under the title Unternehmen Stardust) on this day in 1961 and issued weekly with new chapters ever since, the Perry Rhodan franchise is patently the most successful one in the arena of science fiction, originally conceived by authors K H Scheer and Walter Ernsting, expanded into radio dramas, video games and comic books—plus a failed cinematic adaptation considered so poorly done that fandom disavows it. Set a decade in the future (1971) during the first lunar mission, US Space Force Major Rhodan and his crew discover an abandoned extraterrestrial vessel and appropriating alien technology, artificial intelligence (positronic brains) and hyper drives, swiftly are able to unite the people of Earth and make humans a galactic presence. With increasingly complex arcs of narrative undertaken by a team of writers, action takes place in a multiverse of exotic aliens, cosmocrats and god-like beings. By coincidence, another beloved science-fiction franchise had its US premiere on the same day in 1966.

fahrkarte (10. 115)

Though happy to pay full fare and subsidise public transportation, I do miss the 9-Euro bus and regional train scheme offered during the past three months to help offset high fuel prices and inflation besetting Germany chiefly for the simplicity and making local travel a bit easier to navigate, explore and reducing congestion and do hope that it comes back in some form. It was a really inopportune ending, coinciding with the start of the school year and a drastic reduction of services in Wiesbaden, going on the Saturday schedule for some routes. A group of activist is campaigning for its return by establishing a fund to cover the fines (60 € or more) for those members fined for riding without a ticket—and encouraging members to display a tag for potential fare collectors or inspector that they are intentionally riding without a valid ticket, so as to avoid the more serious charge of defrauding the transport-providers and only incur the lesser fine for “Schwarzfahrer”—fare-dodging. While an organisation is free to offer amnesty for its members and champion the return of a cheap, flat-rate, their actions could also be legally construed as public incitement to commit a crime—through ticket evasion.

i can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky (10. 114)

Hitting number one on US charts on this day in 1985 and holding that top position for two weeks, the hit by John Parr for Joel Schumacher’s film of the same name was created and edited in the space of one day. Struggling to find inspiration for the lyrics, Parr and co-writer David Foster were taken by the story of an athlete, Canadian track and field athlete Rick Hansen, and his undertaking to raise awareness for spinal cord injuries—his “Man in Motion Tour” and quickly came up with a song that squared with the movie while directly referencing Hansen. The musical ensemble includes members from the bands Mr Mister, REO Speedwagon and Toto.