I wonder about the history and consequence of each small subdivision and where and when the schism came about. The light blue areas represent places that observe the holiday and the white areas ones that do not. The purple-grey areas are “parishes of trees”—quite a lot more of them than I realized too—Gemeindefrei districts that are forests and unpeopled.
Saturday 11 August 2012
iconoclasts or gerrymandering
Soon it will be the regionally-observed German holiday of the Feast of the Assumption (Maria Himmelfahrt) commemorating the passage of the Mother of God into Heaven without having to suffer the pains of death. It is not a federal holiday, however, and is only celebrated in communities that are historically predominately Catholic. I knew that religion cut a strange figure over the Free State of Bavaria, differing confessions triggering potential disruptions in mass-transit (as one locality might take on a holiday schedule while the destination might not), postal deliveries and stores and businesses being open, aside from church processions and services—but until I saw it expressed cartographically, like in this map from the state government, I did not realize what pockets, exclaves and enclaves there were and how the footfalls of Protestantism and the Counter-Reformation looked on the march.
catagories: ๐ฉ๐ช, ✝️, ๐บ️, holidays and observances
resupinate
After some months of dormancy, my little orchid again budded and came into full bloom. These flowers have a very specific and peculiar architecture, and there are more kinds of orchids than there are different species of birds and are closely related to asparagus. Resupination refers to the structurally downward facing dog yoga pose that the parts of the flower assumes as it develops and suggests being upside down, though almost all flowers grow this way so I wonder upside down to what.
My orchid does not display the advanced and a little smug mimicry of this wild cultivar (evolved, coerced to look like something it’s never seen) but I can certainly see the family resemblance.
catagories: ๐ฑ, environment
Friday 10 August 2012
sing-a-long
A group of artists have collaborated to create luggage-labels for all the des-tinations mentioned in the folk standard “I’ve been Everywhere,” covered by Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. There are some really brilliant designs and I certainly would not mind seeing this group applying themselves to bigger undertakings.
dbase or paying peter to rob paul
The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is again bringing scrutiny on itself by putting on airs of vigilantism and proceeding with the purchase of more data CDs from Swiss banking institutions with information on German account holders.
catagories: ๐จ๐ญ, ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐, ๐ฅธ, economic policy