speciments

instructions to applicant

What an obscure thing to commit to paper, and what a bizarre punishment for those born under the sign of 87. I wonder what old legacy programming subroutine is triggered with this magic number. It’s like the legal fictions, which vary greatly by jurisdiction, for people born on a 29 February, which I imagine could get people in quite a bind and might only be remedied by a telefax addressed to somewhere on some other time continuum. These systems, which justify more than a few jobs by continuing to refuse to communicate with one another and require a translator and arbitrator, are not the most navigable and produce as much red-tape as the bureaus and agencies that the sustain. I wonder, though, if anyone has bothered to compile the surprising snatches of poetry in unappreciated bureaucratic boilerplate. Some passages are untouchable and have survived updates and revisions to regulations, like one of my favourite sections that includes “notorious misconduct off-duty—with regard to off-duty conduct, all employees have an obligation to conduct themselves so that no disgrace or disrepute will be visited on the Department of the Army” as a primary cause for dismissal—very non-committal and open-ended and probably a guildline that would defy being stated any other way.

umbrage or full name

In addition to being the engine and regulator of calendars and holidays in many traditions, the waxing and waning of the Moon to its gleaming and unshadowed visage is also named as the year makes its transit through the seasons. It seems a bit tautological as the word for month in many languages is derived from the word for Moon, but with the asynchronicity of the Sun and our calendar systems (since some months can have an extra full phase, a Blue Moon, or be absent a full moon altogether), that tidal pull I think acts as a correcting force, bring our sense of time back in line and turned from schedules and agendas. It’s nice to reflect on the ruling Moon, governing its portion of the year, and what lyrical names and moods, mostly from mixed Native American traditions though I would be interested to see more on what other folk-practises and conventions there are, we give it.

Winter Solstice

January Old Moon, Yule Moon, Ice Moon

February Storm Moon, Hunger Moon
March Lenten Moon, Crow Moon

Vernal Equinox
April Pink Moon, Fish Moon
May Flower Moon, Hare Moon
June Honey Moon, Hot Moon

Summer Solstice
July Hay Moon, Thunder Moon
August Dog Moon, Lightening Moon
September Harvest Moon, Wine Moon

Autumn Equinox
October Travelers’ Moon
November Hunters’ Moon
December Oak Moon, Frost Moon

adi, adieu, arrivederci, adios acta

After months of protests over intransparency and secret diplomacy, back room dealings and public outcry, the outcome of 4 July’s parliamentary vote in Strasbourg was somewhat of a foregone conclusion. The vote, however, was a decisive stance and declaration of independence from American dictates, coming in the form of rejection of the ACTA treaty and choosing freedom over copyfight. A clear majority of parliamentarians from all political persuasions did come together to deflect this proposal, ostensibly to combat international counterfeiting of real and virtual commodities and enshrine intellectual rights, but there was a minority of proponents and many abstainers.

I am sure that the watchdog group, European Corporate Observatory, could let you know how your representative voted and if there might be industry connections influencing that decision. In the last minutes before the ballot, there were some desperate, sophistical arguments that tried to defend the opaqueness of the negotiations, saying that the deal was about keeping fabulous-fakes out of the market and not about codifying the ability of government censorship, though China and Indian were not signatories. (That argument is a bit taxing, I think, because those countries are not dens of piracy and inequity and do export some counterfeit goods because they also generate the majority of the world’s non-counterfeit goods as well.) One supporter of ACTA compared an agreement without China and Indian to the good done with the imperfect and not universal Kyoto Protocols, which is without Chinese, Indian and American support, and that we still ought to try something. The comment was weak, but it did make me think that before even entertaining furthering American hegemony and legal frameworks, the EU and others ought to be able to demand that the US abide by the environmental treaty, recognize the permanent tribunal in the Hague, pay its membership dues to the United Nations, etc. Such a quid pro quo seems fair and might convince the US to introduce compacts not overly swayed by the telecommunications and entertainment industries—especially as the move by Europe is inviting the spectre of retribution in trade and tariffs on the part of American businesses. Those threats, however, must have rung empty for the rejection to be so resolute.

aperitif or alcohol-spectrum

Championing a national drink generally amounts to the exclusion of other equally distinct and fine products, like wines and other spirits, however, there are usually interesting connections and a story behind how one liquor, rather than another, came to be identified with one country and region. Greek ouzo and Italian grappa and sambuca are different branches, essentially, of the distillation experiments undertaken by monks on Mount Athos in the 1300s, although the idea of fermenting an elixir, brandy out of the leftovers of wine-making has far more ancient roots and traditions.

The anise-flavoured spirits themselves gained broader popularity and became firmly established in the early 1900s, after the ban on Swiss Absinthe, whose bad reputation was mostly undeserved but left a gaping opportunity for other competitors.