We have very much enjoyed this curation and appreciation from The Art Room Plant on author and illustrator Aliki Brandenberg. Graduating from the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, Aliki (usually going by her mononym) had a brief stint as commercial graphic designer and founded her own greeting card company before in 1956 returning to Europe to explore her Greek heritage, meeting Swiss native Franz Brandenberg—eventually marrying—and inspired to write her first children’s book on the legend of William Tell, the expert archer of Switzerland. 
Well received, her first publication in 1960 started a long career adapting fables and myths with other works on a broad range of topics from her personal life, dinosaurs to Shakespeare. The pictured illustrations are from My Hands and The Listening Walk with Paul Showers of the “Let’s Read and Find Out” series. Much more at the link above.
Thursday, 6 August 2026
go tell aunt rhody (13. 694)
day one-hundred fifty-four (13. 693)
After a series of intense bombardments of Kyiv, Ukraine hits back with more attacks on Wildberries fulfilment centres and petroleum refineries deep inside Russia, confounding its ability to finance its war. US secretary of state Rubio and UK foreign minister Milliband emphasised their shared commitment to open shipping channels and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. 
Houthis stage a violent coup against the recognised Yemeni government as the movement announces expanded military operations. The Strait of Hormuz is reported of the verge of being reopened as Tehran and Muscat agree upon the coordinates of the route for the transit chokepoint. Whilst Trump, excluded from the negotiation process maintains that he would much rather reach a deal with Iran rather than resume the US offensive, Netanyahu, ahead of elections, hints at unilateral action to prolong and undoubted escalate this costly and illegal joint undertaking.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the Vostok 2 mission (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth the revisit
two years ago: a 1963 surf-rock banger, chess notation plus presidential candidate Kamala Harris introduces running-mate Tim Walz
three years ago: Stay by Lisa Loeb (1994) plus born this day in 1911, Lucille Ball
four years ago: the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire (1806) plus more links to enjoy
five years ago: Klaus Nomi, Ghanaian heraldic standards plus Olympic trivia
six years ago: Trieste street photography, anime Spongebob plus caveat scriptor
Wednesday, 5 August 2026
7x7 (13. 692)
astro-boy: striking photographs of Jupiter made with a Nintendo handheld game
gobaith newydd: Star Wars dubbed into for the first time Welsh airing on Christmas Day—see previously
vatnajรถkull: Icelandic environmental activist turns to his his skill as a storyteller to champion the melting glaciers and icecaps—see previously
turingery: the resourceful tricks underpinning the Colossus codebreaker that deciphered Enigma—see previously—via Kottke
troubled waters: Trump administration opens up pristine nature reserves in the Pacific ocean to commercial fishing
the i’s have it: parsing a new possessive construction first documented in a 1992 episode of Married with Children
path of totality: your local view of the upcoming sunset solar eclipse, Wednesday 12 August—via Maps Mania
day one-hundred fifty-three (13. 691)
Houthi rebels target a Saudi Arabian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, issuing more warning to vessels to avoid Saudi ports. IDF launches strikes on the suburbs south of Beirut. Tehran and Muscat appear ready to finalise a deal for entrance and egress respectively cleaving to the coastlines of the Islamic Republic and the Sultanate, presaging reopening of the Hormuz under their joint-administration, barring interference from certain third-parties. 
Meanwhile Trump lauds the deal to restore access “tomorrow or the next day” with the US manifestly excluded from negotiations, conditioned on the end of the American blockade. Humanoid character and US secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent: “Is this a pigeon?”
synchronoptica
one year ago: posthumously restoring citizenship to a confederate general (with synchronoptica), Trump eliminates board of labour statistics following a week jobs report plus ant-eater coevolution
two years ago: Trump assures Christian supporters that if they vote for him this once, they’ll never have to worry about voting again plus assorted links worth revisiting
three years ago: an anomaly observatory, more links to enjoy plus the Nixon tapes
four years ago: a chart-topper from Doris Day, an album from Pink Floyd, an insightful globe plus an aesthetic mapping app
five years ago: even more links, a Da Vinci sketch plus a classic from The Beatles
six years ago: potential TikTok ban in the US, early advances in telegraphy, even more links plus a critique of The Giving Tree
Tuesday, 4 August 2026
nru ≫ nro (13. 690)
Following moves by the Czech Republic, Swaziland and Turkey to change their exonyms to Czechia, Eswatini and Tรผrkiye respectively, the world’s third smallest country, the remote Pacific atoll, facing an existential threat over climate change and rising ocean levels, has announced it will be henceforth called Naoero after a popular referendum. Whilst ditching the colonial name of Pleasant Island when Great Britain allowed the German Empire to annex it as part of the Marshall Islands Protectorate, its endonym was restored, though in sort of a backhanded, paternalistic manner by ethnographer and linguist Paul Hambruch who gave it the folk-etymology as a contraction of the phrase a-nuau-a-a-ororo, supposedly, “I go to the beach.” 
After the British retook the phosphate-rich island following the end of World War I to be administered by Australia, the name Nauru stuck but as a pronunciation of convenience since the native name was difficult for foreigners to say. The twelve thousand residents of the parliamentary republic is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the International Monetary Fund. Mineral resources mostly exhausted—which destroyed all arable land and all food is currently imported, Naoero has earned a significant portion of its revenue by alternating recognition for the ROC and the PRC under the One-China Policy, as well as the breakaway regions of Georgia of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and from housing refugees awaiting immigration requests for Australia and New Zealand to be processed.
day one-hundred fifty-two (13. 689)
Jordan, whose Hashemite monarchy administers the religious site in Jerusalem and maintains the status quo treaty that stipulates only Muslims can prayer there, convenes an emergency meeting of ministers from the Islamic world due to the possible Israeli takeover of the al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock, which the Jews refer to as the Temple Mount. Tensions are heightened as illegal settlements continue to edge out the Palestinian population in the West Bank. 
With Qatar reportedly brokering indirect talks, US secretaries of state and the treasury hint that a deal over the Strait of Hormuz will be achieved very soon (“possibly today or tomorrow” as opposed to two-weeks) and fuel prices will begin to tumble as Trump complains about oil companies’ record quarterly profits and demands lower petrol prices. Iranian president Masud Pezeshkian asserts he has no intention of resigning amid speculation regarding his political future.
overworld suite (13. 688)
there will come soft rains (13. 687)
Daily routines continue with robots attending to household chores and meal preparation, acknowledging their former residents and masters though they mistake their presence for silhouettes burnt on to the walls by the atomic blast. The absent family’s pet dog, starving is blocked from entering the kitchen whilst the systems are whirring away, eventually dying of hunger and exhaustion before being unceremoniously incinerated by the clean-up module. The house recites a selection of the hostess’ favourite poetry, choosing the above. Later an errant wind gust blows a branch through the kitchen windows, causing a fire that the robots are unable to extinguish with the house itself consumed, save for a single wall and an automated clock, registering the date and time.
one year ago: a UFO sighting in Scotland (with synchronoptica), UNESCO status for Neapolitan pizza, battling gerrymandering with gerrymandering plus a celebrity sea anemone
