tyromancers (10. 990)

Via Nag on the Lake and Weird Universe, we discover a divination practise perfectly suited to our gang of turophiles in the form of telling one’s fortune by watching cheese congeal and coalesce and noting its characteristics—dating back to the Middle Ages, a time when people frequently consulted objects at hand for guidance. One technique described was for eligible individuals to inscribe the names of potential partners on a cheese and the first to moulder would indicate the best match. More at the links above.

notices and diffusions (10. 989)

Founded on this day in 1923 after several earlier attempts that failed to gain international support in response to harmonise global police response in the face of increased travel and trade that was accompanied by attendant transnational criminal enterprises at the conclusion of a five-day congress in Vienna, Interpol under the presidency of the summit’s organiser, jurist, law enforcement official and former Austrian chancellor Johannes Schober was chartered with a mandate to investigate trafficking, political corruption and counterfeiting—into include copyright infringements and not as an supernational police force, despite popular conception, only liaising between jurisdictions. Interpol is, by its constitution, expressly forbidden to intervene in matters of politics or military, religious or racial matters and maintain neutrality—a stance that has garnered the organisation criticism over the years, leading to arrests of dissident refugees at their behest and their avoidance of pursuing war crimes.

synchronoptica

one year ago: St Elmo’s Fire (1985),  a powerful political ad (1964) plus the end of the 9€ ticket scheme

two years ago: more on the development of kitchen design, Wikipedia Commons (2004), a Muppets conspiracy theory, Dancing Queen (1976) plus more false Dmitris

three years ago: the Abbots Bromley horn dance, circumnavigating the globe by car (1929) plus a pretty keen sports mascot 

four years ago: the abbey of Landévennec,  Midcentury Modern emoji, more on the Periodic Table, The Book of Kells plus Astro Boy (1963)

five years ago: lemons and the mafia, toxic-loving plants plus getting rid of plastic ring beer binders

cresoxipropanediol en capsule (10. 988)

Via the venerable Cardhouse, we are directed to this 1966 performance from French stage and screen actor Ginette Garcin, who already accomplished (occasionally as a screwball) became even more famous in part for singing the novelty chansons of composers Jean Yanne and Boby Lapoint. An extreme exercise in good diction, commit these instructions to memory: Oui, alors l'aspirine c'est de l'acide acétylsalicylique, alors ça valait bien le coup de donner le nom savant de tous les médicaments précédents…

pict, png and svg (10. 987)

Although a bit surprised that the fabled auction house is yet trying to make NFTs a collectible, no matter has the public now gets to enjoy a never-before seen series of digital painting from the artist Keith Haring. From Boing Boing, Haring was gifted an Amiga computer in 1986 from his friend Timothy Leary in hopes that the artist would contribute to his project to promote a planned cinematic adaptation of the cyberpunk novel Neuromancer after witnessing Haring engaging with a Macintosh Steve Jobs brought to the birthday party of John Lennon’s son Sean (see also)—mostly to entertain the kids but other guests, including Andy Warhol were rather taken with the medium. Neither above venture quite came to fruition though, Haring was happy to experiment—and proceeds from the sale go to a good cause.

all mod cons (10. 986)

Lead single from the band’s fifth studio album, The Jam enjoyed yet another number one on UK charts beginning on this day in 1980 (one of eighteen consecutive songs to rise to this distinction for the mod revival group) with “Start!” Though opening with a riff very similar to the Beatles’ Tax Man and echo Revolver-era psychedelia, the arrangement and tone of the song takes an immediate departure, combining influences of the 60s and a 70s lament and protest. Never released as singles domestically, Sound Affects also includes the tracks “That’s Entertainment” and “Who is the Five o'clock Hero?,” which are regarded as two of the most popular and defining of the decade.

 synchronoptica

one year ago:  Boris Johnson says ta-ta for now plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: more links to enjoy, Jimi Hendrix’ last performance (1970), St Petersburg gets its original name back (1991) plus some special Roman dice

three years ago: Trump finally makes the cover of Time magazine plus a visit to Germany’s Little Switzerland

four years ago: links worth the revisit plus day-old bread in Iceland

five years ago: assorted links, lodestars plus more Supermarination

9x9 (10. 985)

built on sand: UN monitoring reveals the alarming scale of marine dredging 

but the meteor men beg to differ, judging by the hole in the satellite picture: revisiting a cringey faux academic essay on “All Star” to realise that Steve Harwell (RIP) had more to tell us  

j-mouse: a procession of dead-end peripherals—I would get the PC in an ottoman 

⡆⠄: LEGO’s braille bricks offered free-of-charge to parents and educators now available to the general public 

the secret-sharer: a confessional box from Simone Giertz (previously) where one’s messages are only present for a few seconds before self-destructing  

phil a. o’fish: a short-lived McDonaldland mascot and early beef alternatives—via Weird Universe  

mixed media: experiential scale-models of Tracey Snelling inspired by the architecture of Berlin—including the Mäusebunker 

premeditatio malorum: fifty short rules for better living from the Stoics  

thermohaline circulation: scientist support using the oceans’ inclination for equilibrium to pull in excess atmospheric carbon-dioxide—see previously

 synchronoptica

one year ago:  Tainted Love (1981) plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: a film from D W Griffith, armorial bearings plus the debut of the Muppet Show (1976)

three years ago: the opening of the Gotthard Tunnel (1980)

four years ago: the greenwashing of the recycling movement plus a legendary kingdom in Bretagne

five years ago: a Freddie Mercury birthday bash, a Queen arrangement in brass, outsider artist James Henry Pullen plus reconciling with the end of coal through art

hot labor summer (10. 984)

Amid ongoing strike actions by the Hollywood Writers’ Guild and pushes to unionise workers for increased leverage in bargaining with big manufacturers and retailers and the growing precarity of news outlets, this round-up and review on the US observance of Labor Day (see previously here and here) presents both hopeful and fraught factors for the movement’s reception and success. While a strong jobs market and with historically low unemployment has advantaged many workers in many industries and has momentum, changing paradigms, which companies can cite with varying levels of credulity, like generative content, cloning (the last time actors in 1960 joined the writers, a six-week stoppage awarded creators residuals from re-runs and syndication) as well as shifting to less labour-intensive manufacturing techniques—electric vehicles take few machinists to build and maintain, signalling major changes in productivity and the makeup of the workforce. While many in the US give vocal support to the ideal of unions, only ten percent of workers belong to one and the US Supreme Court has issued recent decisions that erode the right of workers to strike when negotiations, stalled and forced into a stalemate by business executives sold on technological utopias that have failed in many cases to materialise. The empires of off-license lodgings, gastronomy and taxi cabs haven’t translated to savings for consumers and are either petty kingdoms or indentured servitude for providers and streaming is just as expensive, exclusive, walled-off as cable or the studio-system. This changing posture of course has global implications and could further undermine workers’ rights.

fireworks (10. 983)

Filmed on a sixteen millimetre camera received as a birthday gift from his grandmother and a significant upgrade from his former hand-cranked camera at his home in Beverly Hills whilst his parents were away for a long weekend in 1947, the debut short from Kenneth Anger (previously) was one of the first works in this media to focus on a homosexuality as a subject. Inspired by witnessing a group of US sailors attacking men with Mexican heritage during the Zoot Suit Riots, which is manifest in dreamer of Fireworks—the filmmaker to later add that “this flick is all I have to say about being seventeen, the United States Navy, American Christmas and the Fourth of July”—and is scored with the tone poem Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi. American sexologist Alfred Kinsey bought the film’s original print, and although the first cinema owner who screened it was arrested on obscenity charges, the case was overturned on appeal by the Supreme Court of California, ruling that homosexuality—even overtly referenced—was a valid theme for artistic expression.