day-trip: oppenheim or down in the underground

The sun was out today as as part of disjointed reprieve in the weather and golden autumn before winter begins to set in.
I took a drive to the near- by town of Oppenheim around noon, marveling at the turning leaves of the vineyards racing past on one side and on opposite at the narrowing Rhine river and pleasure boots moored to hibernate for the season.
This town between Mainz and Speyer was along the road of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV's penitential Walk to Canossa (the source of the saying, “nach Canossa gehen,” meaning an act of humility or submission—taking ones lumps) a fortress in northern Italy, in hopes that the Pope might reverse the decision to excommunicate Henry for insisting that he was his sacral right to nominate bishops. The Emperor crossed the Alps barefoot and in a hair-shirt, the account goes, and was made to kneel outside in a blizzard for three days before being admitted into the fortress.
The town's history, however, extends back to Roman times and is nowadays renowned for its wine production, vines winding and cascading any place a foothold is available, and is anchored with a quite romantic little Altstadt surrounded by turreted-walls and the beautiful Gothic church of Saint Katherine, absolutely brilliant with a kaleidoscope of fine stained-glass windows.
This outstanding church is most significant work of the era between the cathedrals of Köln and Strasbourg, and having seen many additions and rebuilding since its dedication in 1225, has a small exhibit on stone-cutting and glass-liming as well as having a few extra puzzle pieces stored away. Behind the church is a small chapel with a Charnel House below, an ossuary with the bones of some 20 000 residents, pilgrims passing through and soldiers from the many battles that occurred here.

And just beyond, on the Weinburg, are the impressive ruins of castle Landskron, channelling the sunlight and offering a sweeping view of the region. These royal walls, the shell of an imperial palace, are testament to events the saw the town's complete destruction in the late 1600s, when burnt during the Nine Years' War when France took control of the Rhine valley, and the only other evidence is found in a suburban labyrinth of medieval passages that connect the vaulted cellars in a network that spans the entire town centre.
Guided tours can be arranged that lead one through these tunnels, though only an estimated three percent of mysterious maze has been rediscovered, corresponding to the town as it was before the fire and not necessarily as it was rebuilt, on the weekends, so this will be an adventure for another day.
Many houses and offices, however, are linked together by these passageways that rise and fall on several levels below the streets. This storied town also featured an elementary school with a wonderfully grand Art Deco (Bauhaus) doorway and façade from 1926.  There is too the former Franciscan Cloister of St. Bartholomäus (St. Bartholomew, now a parish church) with this really great modern, abstract mural on its walls makes it look like the shrine of the Autobots.

andromeda strain

A research laboratory in Braunschweig, working with ESA, the European Space Agency, has been culturing samples of extremely hardy bacteria that have been isolated in samples collected on parts of space-probes after being sterilised for assembly and deployment.

The biological significance in these studies is of course terrifying and exciting at the same time: like the super-bugs that have survived and thrived in hospital environments, scientists expected no living organism to be able to withstand these conditions, yet there they are and such bacteria have probably already been inadvertently sent out as terrestrial emissaries into space.

day-trip: good for the goose, good for the gander

Over the weekend, we had the chance to re-visit the millennium-old cathedral of Mainz (Mainzer Dom) and walk the aisles. The bishopric itself, never an independent suffragan and surrounded by other competitive dioceses, saw its elevation due to the industry of Johannes Gensfleisch (the Latin Gens transformed in the German Sippe, a clan, but to my ears, like the German word for goosebumps, Gansehaut) zur Laden Gutenberg and his printed-word, complementing the established craft of the city in linen and textile printing.
Coincidentally, we visited on the Feast Day of St. Martin, to whom the grand cathedral was dedicated, built in hopes of establishing itself as a Holy See. Saint Martin of Tours, one of the first famed contentious objectors and reluctant to be honoured for his stance, was betrayed by a gaggle of friendly geese, whom gave away his hiding spot to the fellow-priests who wanted him as their leader. Because of this, it is traditional to feast on a goose in Germany on St. Martin's Day.

dipterology

Mostly evolution, mutation and adaptation are mere moments in time, relics of some impetus and rarely understood in full context—however, there are generational slices (especially when coming at a fast pace) that keen observers sometimes have the chance to witness and document. Boing Boing brings on such fascinating example (though rare but not quite unique) with an entomologist discovers a population of fruit-fly that has images of ants genetically tattooed on its wings to apparently fend off potential predators. That seems pretty boss, although the trigger maybe to attract bug collectors, as well, since after all the most convincing image of an ant isn't determined by the fly but rather the eye of the beholder.

in the room the women come and go, talking of michelangelo, or prufrock and other observations

Julien Peters delivers an excellent recitation of T. S. Eliot's seminal modernist's work, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, illustrated in comic strip style. The artist has given several dozen classic pieces of poetry the same treatment and it's fun and moving to follow along with stanza and verse converted to panels in the form of graphic novellas.

neat, sweet, petite

Happy Mutant David Pescovitz shares a wonderfully garish gallery of photographs from the set of the Addams Family. It is strange to see a black-and-white television show colourised in this way.

doctor pangloss, i presume?

Though this kind of story might seem a bit belaboured—in spite and because of the very cultural isolationism of gentrification which causes the wealthy and the poor to believe their station in life exactly what it ought to be and every one else is just as fortunate featured in the article, Zero Hedge has a list of twenty-one facts and figures that add insult to injury. Such a brand of capitalism does not seem equitable at all and only designed to support the illusion of limitless opportunities and detached entitlements.

merrily we roll along

There is an unresolved debate regarding bringing the fugitive Edward Snowden (whom I am still unconvinced is not an industry-shill and distracting factor when it comes to leadership) out of Neuland to Germany to testify on espionage activities by his former employers. Quite a few double-buffs seem to be influencing inaction.

And though Russia, Snowden's host-nation, has on several occasions extended the guarantee that Snowden is free to speak to whomever he wishes, the initial caveat that Snowden's stay is contingent on causing no further international crises, proponents fear that such testimony under the candle-light of diplomatic missions might yield too little. Snowden's offer, meanwhile, is presented with a similar condition of sanctuary in Germany—which does not appear to be forthcoming. While the accommodation is clearly denied due fears for negative repercussions for the current government and successors by tempting America's displeasure, some announce the caution as a fear for extradition and rendition should the Fugitive come here and be too exposed to this den of American operatives. Such careful diplomacy runs counter to the facts that Germany is a subject of interest because America relies keenly on German success and stability and kidnapping an individual under German auspices would be an even graver slight. Courting dissatisfaction seems something minor considering the cordiality and trespasses already committed. I wonder what other juicy details remain to be disclosed. Limitations should, it seems, be entertained but not with surety of vindication and of victimisation.