Finishing his tour of North America on this day in 1923, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, celebrated author and purveyor of woo (previously), boarding the RMS Adriatic bound from New York back to the United 
Kingdom said on the recent death of the American president, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, “It will take three days for Mr Harding’s spirit to become acclimated to conditions in the new world… Mr Coolidge [his vice president and successor] should have no difficult in communicating with his predecessor’s spirit. Both men have led clean and Christian lives.” If council was sought through mediumship, the nation’s new chief executive would have no problem transitioning to his role. Though “Silent Cal” probably did not seek out Harding’s advice, his reputation fraught with scandal including damaging cronyism and the Teapot Dome bribery that only emerged posthumously plus jailing (at least refusing to entertain overtures for a pardon) his opponent from the 1920 election, Eugene Debs, his own hands-off approach to economic policy informed and enabled the “Roaring Twenties” and following his decision not to run for a second full term in 1929, was very reluctant to endorse his party’s nominee, Herbert Hoover, whom Coolidge dismissed as universally bad.
Friday, 4 August 2023
line of succession (10. 925)
10x10 (10. 924)
manufactured crises: distractions and moral panics fabricated by the US GOP and associates
sachal jazz: Pakistani musicians perform a rendition of David Brubeck’s “Take Five” on tabla and sitar with orchestral accompaniment
illuminated text: an unfinished medieval manuscript reveals a step-by-step manual for its making
finishing the hat: Stephen Sondheim’s (previously) Turtle Bay townhouse is on the market smiley head: custom screws requiring a special driver—via Pasa Bon!
f-91w: fully-function ring watches from Casio
blogoversary: JWZ turns twenty-five
the partridge family 2200 a.d.: a round up of animated spin-offs
super fun pak: the novelty cards of Pee-wee’s Playhouse
now you’re cooking with gas: the culture wars come to the stove
synchronoptica
one year ago: the invention of champagne (1693), the Zone of Galactic Obscuration plus assorted links to revisit
two years ago: an infamous bugging device discovered (1945), the Lady of Elx, pipe architecture, working against one’s own self-interest plus assorted links worth revisiting
three years ago: more miniatures from Tatsuya Tanaka, St Sithney, the patron saint of dogs plus the birthday of Helen Thomas, Barack Obama
four years ago: sounds lost to lossy compression plus bouba or kiki
five years ago: interviews with author Philip K Dick
Thursday, 3 August 2023
music can be such a revelation (10. 923)
The artist Madonna achieved his first number one on the UK singles chart on this day in 1985 with her contribution to the sound track of Desperately Seeking Susan—the song not officially released in the US in order to not detract from sales of her Like a Virgin prelude “Crazy for You” nor given a proper music video, only a montage of scenes from the film that was nonetheless in heavy circulation on MTV. The movie’s director Susan Seidelman rejected Kelly McGillis, Melanie Griffith and Diane Keaton for the title role and cast Madonna (also launching the careers of co-stars Aiden Quinn and Rosanna Arquette) after an encounter in the “downtown music scene” with the artist offering her song for a disco scene shot in the Manhattan Danceteria nightclub.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the Disposition of Christ plus Tears for Fears
two years ago: waggling the dog, the first email in Germany (1984), reimagined, retro social platforms plus the movie posters of Richard Amsel
three years ago: Joe Columbo’s Chair Universal, Prussia—Borussia plus the photography of Alberto Lenardo
four years ago: a Jugenstil and Art Deco exhibit, Poolside FM, Every Noise at Once, precision taping plus a trip to the Black Moor
five years ago: photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, prescient warnings about global warming plus the cult of Q-Anon
Wednesday, 2 August 2023
hat-tip or honour among thieves (10. 922)
Veteran blogger Ernie Smith brings us back to a time a decade ago when individually curated websites 
were the acknowledged primary sources for leads and a mainstay for uncovering interesting things. As these finds were propagated, attribution and due credit increasingly were elided over for the sake of virality, damaging the revenue and reputation of the original posters. A curators’ code was proposed in attempts to raise the standard of citation to academic and journalistic levels with an ↬ as a back link and a second แฅ that’s a direct link to the source. The markup language didn’t quite catch on but hopefully the intent and the collegial spirit remains even as the old, weird web is cannibalised.
you chicken fink! after all we did to get accepted? (10. 921)
Before going into general release in cinemas in the US, American Graffiti premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival on this day, the director and writer George Lucas, disappointed by the financial performance of THX 1138, was challenged to make a nostalgic, coming-of-age movie by producer Francis Ford Coppola that more audiences could relate to and was inspired by recollections of teenage experiences “cruising” in Modesto, California.
Set during the last night of summer vacation, matriculating seniors and recent graduates about to depart for college out of state spend the evening driving from one end of town to the other, with a cast including Richard Dreyfus, Harrison Ford, Mackenzie Phillips, Ron Howard, Suzanne Somers and Cindy Williams and an omnipresent soundtrack sourced from its decade earlier setting (DJ’d by Wolfman Jack), this second attempt is heralded as among the most profitable films of all time with a world-wide boxoffice of over two-hundred million, giving Lucus the seed money to finance his long-planned space opera.
Tuesday, 1 August 2023
outcome-determinative fraud (10. 920)
Characterised by the campaign to re-elect Trump and ostensibly much of the cult-like Republican party as election interference and may well boost his chances, the former president has been indicted—his third and second on the federal level, for his role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election on four counts of criminal behaviour that came to a violent denouement with the January Sixth storming of the Capitol. 
Enumerated as defrauding the government, conspiring to obstruct official proceeding, the case of the prosecution alleges Trump spread false rumours about voter fraud, called false slates of electors and encouraged the attempt to halt the certification of the ballot through encouraging above insurrection, determined to remain in power, knowing that his narrative and claims were baseless—eroding confidence in election officials and a rather sacrosanct process that equates to disenfranchisement against counsel who tried to disabuse him of this narrative tactic. Six accomplices were cited anonymously and not yet charged, suggesting that they could be induced to cooperate with the investigation that could mean a jail sentence long enough to keep Trump behind bars for the rest of his life—though he can still run for president despite conviction, like his antithesis Eugene V Debs of the Socialist party, and should he be re-elected, appoint a new attorney general and justice department to overturn the charges.
7x7 (10. 919)
istj: while gladly gone the way of Harry Potter House in many circles, Chinese placement agencies are obsessing with Myers-Briggs personality types
hapsburg ai: generative chat programmes trained on derivative synthetic output becomes recursive and untenable—via Kottke
pittura infamante: the Florentine legal tradition of the rogues’ gallery—via Miss Cellania ๐: flashing sign with new logo dismantled in San Francisco’s Twitter headquarters after neighbours complain
‡:a font family inspired by an Ancient Roman typeface continues a centuries’ long dialogue of the printed word
watermark: to distinguish generative writing from human, we could possible assign it its own Unicode alphabets—via Language Log
the belt and road initiative: Italy is vocal with its regrets over signing on to China’s foreign policy push and infrastructure development programme
princess irulan (10. 918)
Serialised previously in Analog magazine, Frank Herbert’s science fiction epic (see tag below for more on the Duniverse franchise) was first published in its complete form on this day in 1965 by Chilton press. Set in a far distant feudal future bereft of technological extensions (thinking machines abolished after they nearly destroy humanity) with the population spread amongst the stars, aristocratic houses vie for control of planetary fiefdoms including the inhospitable desert world of Arrakis—the only source of the psychedelic spice melange which extends life and vitality and opens up the mind to precognition—necessary for piloting heighliners through interstellar space—and is terminally addictive. The story is narrated through chapter epigraphs by historian and the eldest daughter of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV.
synchronoptica
one year ago: a taxonomical exploration plus an MST3K classic
two years ago: the debut of MTV (1981), hyperinflation, names for the Biblically nameless, more Universal Everything plus a “perfect” pollinator-friendly plant
three years ago: Lammas Day, a new song from deadmau5 plus facial coverings inspired by public transport upholstery
four years ago: a little museum on the Moon, the Swiss federation (1291), an interesting optical illusion plus book-lover tattoos
five years ago: another chatbot meltdown, first directly elected female president (1980), the paradox of good governance, land-use in the USA plus more backyard pollinators
