10x10 (10. 662)

never fearing guns or numbers like a tiger to its meat, the stranger then attacked the pirate fleet: a space-age sea-shanty by Duane Elms of Carmen Miranda’s Ghost, courtesy of Shadow Manor 

sorcerer’s apprentice: angry to have been out-manoeuvred by Disney’s lawyers, Florida governor declares all-out war against the theme park 

sea life: a 1923 chessboard designed by Max Esser for Meißen—via ibīdem 

shelling out: a gallery of vintage Easter confections family album: being first on the scene to document shipwrecks is a generational business  

the tiffany network: an all-star roll for the 1978 fiftieth anniversary of the Columbia Broadcasting System  

blogoversary: a belated congratulations to Map Room as it reaches the milestone of twenty years of blogging  

late-stage sea-monkeys: targeted ads are generally promoting the worst possible version of a product  

bohemian grove: the secretive club back in the headlines after revelations of US Supreme Court Justice Thomas’ gifts included a trip to the exclusive retreat 

falmouth: the annual, international festival of maritime music returns in June

et in arcadia ego (10. 661)

From the archives of the Index of American Design, we are treated to a landscaping survey in watercolours (both to scale and as abstract representations) of some of the last palatial estates of the then rural area of 1860s northern Manhattan, just prior to the terrain being subsumed by advancing urbanisation, a suburbia (“faubourg,” from the French for fore-town or banlieue) who some praised above all other cosmopolitan back lawns, hoping to preserve the gardens and hobby farms of this country retreats“out of the hands of jobbers and speculators.” Little trace remains today of these summer residences, other than the odd toponymic relic—like the Audubon Park district in Washington Heights. Much more at Public Domain Review at the link above.

the egg war of the farallon islands (10. 660)

Regaling us with the strange tales of real and artificial scarcity and runaway inflation for the city of San Francisco flush with money owing to the Gold Rush (see previously) which seems like an apt allegory for modern San Francisco with the boom and bust of the native tech sector and the real estate market, Lit Hub contributor Lizzy Stark—via Strange Company—surveys the shortage of women and perishables through the price of eggs in California territory, the untenable fickleness of domesticated hens and turning to a seabird sanctuary for scavenging that dedicimated the local wild populations of auks, gulls and of pinnipeds from a rocky, treacherous outcropping in the bay. The cost of a dozen eggs in American markets today exacerbated by the tumultuous economy has nothing from back during the frontier days.

outlandos d’amour (10. 659)

Released on this day in 1978 as the lead single from their debut album, the song written chiefly by the band’s bassist and principal singer Sting from the perspective of an individual falling in love with a sex-worker, inspired to explore a new take on the modern fable whist lodging in accommodations for a tour stop in Paris. An old poster for the stage adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac hung in the foyer, the object of the title character‘s affection.

exposome (10. 658)

We learn via the New Shelton wet/dry that the field of exposomics was coined in 2005 to describe the aetiology of chronic disease and cancers due to environmental factors and has since been expanded as a heuristic approach to gauging exposure to pollutants and how toxins are metabolised and change in the body once incorporated. Taken rather dismissively like the statistic that we swallow a fair share of spiders annually, the idea that we ingest a credit card per week of microplastics ought to be a cause for alarm and what’s inert and what’s potentially reactive and enduring is a big unknown for public health and well-being as we continue to trash our planet.

6x6 (10. 657)

locus ludi: play ancient Greek and Roman board games and more—via Pasa Bon! 

carriage-return: an illustrated appreciate of maintenance trains of the Japan’s railways  

you, me and ui: the logoff button is defunct king kong (your song): Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s other attempts to recapture the success of Monster Mash  

castaway huts: a guide to shelters for shipwrecked sailors 

組み紐; the traditional Japanese art of making chords and braids  

never bet against the house: a group of in tune gamblers find a way to beat the odds with Roulette with preternatural timing—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links

general ledger accounting (10. 656)

For the United Kingdom, the fiscal year for corporate taxation runs from 1 April to 31 March, owing to the old ecclesiastical calendar that marked, sensibly, the new year commencing on Lady Day, which is even more enshrined in the reckoning of personal income tax, which was first manifested as a lien on windows, with the Feast of the Annunciation transposed and advanced with the calendar reform of of 1752 (see above, see also), with the new non-public budget and reporting year starting on this day so those intercalary days wouldn’t be a loss on government revenue.

8x8 (10. 655)

lorem ipsum: the Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in the Mac operating system 

duchenne smile: AI bias towards American standards skews cultural norms—see also  

soapbox: in a continuing attack against journalism, Twitter categories National Public Radio as state-affiliated media  

desancimonious: the problem with the governor of Florida eventually solves itself 

carhop: a classic post from Kottke on McDonald’s early years

grift: US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (previously) has been a flagrant recipient of rather lavish kickbacks and gratuities for decades—via Boing Boing  

talk of the town: Japan’s singular buttered toast critic 

illnumerate: George Box’ maxim and the problem with economic modelling