ad copy (11. 728)

Via Web Curios, we enjoyed perusing this gallery of mostly—but not exclusively—vintage Anglophone print advertisements that make the exception to the curator’s collection entitled, “Nobody Reads Ads” from Miguel Ferreira, who writes a lot about commericals and creativity. There are some really effective and arresting ones, though not the ones that everyone remembers as indisputable examples, that are lost in the data of engagement and targeting and each demonstrates a subtle hook to an audience that is not exactly self-selecting. What are some of your favourites or ones you think have been overlooked and should be included?  Much more at the links above.

couch gag (11. 727)

In some strange conflation between Trump’s running-mate, Trump’s supreme court pick Brett Kavanaugh and the Mandala effect for the spectrum of possible things that’s allowing the memes of production to take over, the episode was not recorded in JD Vance’s memoir and the whole thing was a joke, but the temporary virality revealed some ever weirder hang-ups and proclivities which are on the record. Vance in a 2021 bemoaned how the Democratic party was led by “a bunch if childless cat ladies who are miserable with their own lives,” specifically naming Kalama Harris, Pete Buttigieg (his prospective challengers) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, rehashing the interview’s soundbite with the argument that childless people are unfit to govern because they have no stake in the future. Other classic talking-points have emerged regarding what Vance—including universal childcare—as a threat to traditional families.

synchronoptica

one year ago: St Martha of Bethany (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: Xerox wants you to stop genericising its brand

eight years ago: a millennium of food and drink in art, a dog train, punctuation in road signage plus an artificial leaf

nine years ago: nature vs nurture plus assorted links worth revisiting

ten years ago: the monuments of Croatia

bright lights city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire (11. 726)

Via friend of the blog, the marvellous Nag on the Lake, we learn about the origins of the classic Elvis Presley officiated wedding tradition—sourced to the time that The King and Priscilla visited a beautiful sanctuary in Las Vegas, and though declining the venue over the lack of room for the planned guest list, Presley gave his blessing, subject to later disputes disputes by his estate and record label over copycat ceremonies but now apparently litigation has relented in order to uphold the tradition, to rebrand the little chapel as Graceland, spawning the destination matrimony up and down the Strip and much further afield. We did not realise, however, despite our upbringing in Texarkana replete with local lore ranging from literary and musical mentions Ross Perot, Scott Joplin and ragtime plus a historically prosperous Black centre of commerce that was devastated Tulsa-style, that the first recorded professional impersonator hailed from the Arkansas-side in the figure of one Carl “Cheesie” Nelson who had a special knack for impersonation and was even invited to perform alongside the genuine article once in Memphis in 1954. Topical singer Philip Ochs first made parodies of Elvis’ discography into protest anthems in the late 1960s, well ahead of the artist’s death and joining a long line of enthusiasts of varying talent. Much more at the links above.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: sculptor Vinne Ream (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: an archive of daily internet snapshots from a decade ago, never wear green on television plus Japan’s Good Design Awards

eight years ago: Bexell’s Talking Stones, a look at the backlash to women’s voting rights plus tubular floating bridges for Norway

ten years ago: a NATO doomsday bunker plus more adventures in Croatia

eleven years ago: copycat blockbusters, German weather plus a visit to Gelnhausen

dioecesis selenis (11. 725)

Delving the depths of Wikipedia, we learn via Neatorama that the bishop of the diocese of Orlando, Florida established in 1968, citing the 1917 Code of Canon Law (Iuris Codex Canonici) which extended pastoral jurisdiction over newly discovered territories to the episcopal authority of the diocese from which the expedition was launched, claimed the Moon in the name of the Church, his appointment coinciding with the Apollo missions to the lunar surface. With a counter-claimant in the archbishop of New York as vicar of the Military Ordinariate as chaplain to all military bases, including Cape Canaveral, the matter was never resolved as it was ultimately a papal decision and Pope Paul VI was bemused by the question, not issuing an official response.

my beautiful christians (11. 724)

Just after reneging on his commitment for a second debate as his sparring partner is more formidable and has the power for a real dressing down—whist sexist and racist attacks by surrogates on Harris increase, Trump held a rally near Mar-a-Lago

unabashedly promoting theocracy and an end to representative democracy. Imploring the crowd to mobilise just this once, Trump said, “You have to get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four years, it will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore.. In four years, you won’t have to vote again.” Incoherent and meandering at times, the speech reiterated in no uncertain terms how the regime has no intentions of conceding or being bound by law or norms.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the Indian diamond-bourse’s new headquarters (with synchronoptica) plus destination-specific travel disorders

seven years ago: animations by Frédéric Vayssouze-Faure, actor Bryan Cranston, Trump’s policy platform plus more on the custom cars of George Barris

eight years ago: a practise environment for Martian colonisation, Wikipedia’s photo competitions, manhole print tee-shirts plus more on terror attacks across Europe

nine years ago: naturally occurring nuclear fission

ten years ago: further adventures in Croatia

pont d‘austerlitz (11. 723)

Overcoming the chaos of an arson attack that sabotaged rail transport into the city and a downpour of driven rain—and a few skeptics who believed the four-hour long spectacle that spanned six kilometers along the Seine with thousands of performers was too ambitious, Paris pulled off the Games’ opening ceremonies with excitement and fanfare and kitsch that embraced and celebrated gentle French stereotypes, poking fun at themselves.

The rooftop dancing and roving torch-bearer combined with the flotilla of boats carrying the national teams down the river, along with the individual numbers, were quite impressive.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Peter Gabriel (with synchronoptica), art appreciation with the Flop House plus RIP Sinéad O’Connor

seven years ago: AI scours Street View for aesthetic photographs,  assorted links worth revisiting plus Soviet election interference

eight years ago: gumption and the complacent class,  feline delusions, artist Victor Vaserely plus Russian election interference

nine years ago: TTIP negotiations plus stress and emotional capacity

ten years ago: ephemeral social media, Croatia Week, Croatia’s founding, tiki couture plus Croatia’s natural wonders

9x9 (11. 722)

circumlocution: a useful synonym for circular logic  

we choose freedom: Kamala Harris’ first campaign advertisement reclaims the Trump GOP’s “so much freedom”  

hitchcock presents: the director’s cameos over five decades  

homobone: why an impact with our humerus hurts so much and is not so funny  

art but make it sports: finding classic analogues in modern day competitions  

forget it jake—it’s chinatown: the reason behind the common aesthetic dating back to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake—via Card House  

in memoriam: a mid-year obituary of those celebrities we have lost  

ε ind ɑ: JWST directly observes an massive exoplanet a dozen light years away but shouldn’t be where it is  

multum in parvo: the Flemish Academy concocted Snelpaardelooszonderspoorwegpetrolrijtuig for horseless-carriage for those who had never encountered one

arcus constantini (11. 721)

Opened to the public on this day in 315 and spanning Rome’s Via Triumphalis amid the decennalia, a series of festivities and games held every decade since 27 BC when Augustus declined the offer of supreme power for life but would accept it for a decade—a tradition upheld by later, non-term-limited emperors to solemnise (they would symbolically relinquish imperium only to have it foisted back on them by popular acclaim) the sacrifice of their predecessor, the Arch of Constantine was dedicated by the Senate to celebrate the the tenth year of his reign and his victory over the forces of Maxentius during the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, ending the civil wars of the terarchy, power disputes among the co-emperors. 

The decorations and the frieze, recounting Constantine’s exploits, along the crowning entablature and colossal proportions make the fourth century archway one of the most iconic examples of the architecture of late Antiquity, but there is some scholarly controversy on its actual builder and purpose, some suggesting it was the vanquished Maxentius who began its construction, his imprimatur erased by damnatio memoriae, particularly since as the emperor was by then more interested in founding his new capital in the East, Constantinople, rather than erecting public buildings in a declining Rome.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: the French comic that heavily influenced Star Wars, domestic double-agents plus the heart of man

eight years ago: alchemist Paracelsus plus the châteaux of the Loire

nine years ago: more links to enjoy

eleven years ago: a mystery ranging leaflet