Thursday 6 July 2017
afternoon drive: saint goar
In honour of the patron saint of vine-growers, potters and innkeepers—the hermit and (another) reluctant clergyman Goar of Aquitaine, I took a drive just around the corner to the Rhine Gorge to again explore namesake village, Sankt Goar am Rhein. Charlemagne ordered the construction of church at the site of the cave where Goar dwelt (the hermitage) during Frankish times and a settlement grew up around it. The sister-city on the opposite shore of the Rhein, Sankt Goarhausen, is also named for the saint. The present church on the site is in the Gothic Revival style and was completed in 1891 but still incorporating ancient elements. Although given permission to preach to the locals and pursue the uncomplicated life of a hospitable recluse, his reputation as a charismatic and wonder-worker kept the bishopric of Trier interested in retaining his talents. Not wanting to have the responsibilities and pressures of being a bishop, Goar prayed to be excused from the commitment and succumbed the next day to a sudden and violent fever that relieved him of his mortal coil. The old town was quite impressive and steeped in history and the monumental ruins of Burg Rheinfels that dominates the village looked incredible and will certainly bear out further investigations and new vistas. I am very happy that I made my little pilgrimage but was a bit disappointed that the throngs of tourists were oblivious to the holiday and the doors of the church were not even open. I felt privileged, like the day and its commemoration was my secret with the saint.
catagories: ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐ , Rheinland-Pfalz, ⓦ
showbread
Our thanks to Super Punch for investigating past the headlines into the US Department of Justice suit against an American craft and hobby outlet’s founder for the illicit importation of ancient Middle Eastern artefacts.
catagories: ⚕️, ๐บ, libraries and museums, Middle East, religion
intrusive r
Recently I learnt that the phonological phenomenon that I tend to partake of—inserting some errant phoneme into a word, both in English and in German, of course has a name: epenthesis (Epenthese).
The subtle p sound that’s rather unavoidable in hampster, somepthing or warmpth is one example called excrescence when a consonant is stuck in there, but the most common form in the received regionalism comes in the form of adding a rhotic sound—as in idear, warsh or what I’ve been called out for, Chicargo. There can also be something called a linking-r as in drawering or as in “I saw-r a film today—oh boy!” Four-thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire—or one twenty-sixth of a pothole per person, which through some formula (or not) yields the seating capacity of the Royal Albert Hall.
catagories: ๐ฌ
Wednesday 5 July 2017
origin story
Not to be outdone by Turkey’s demagoguery in restricting instruction on evolution in public schools, the state of Florida, as Boing Boing reports, has passed legislation that grants any resident, regardless if they are a pupil or the parent of a student or not, the right to request an official hearing into the propriety of classroom teaching materials.
With proponents already advocating the merits of the statue as a means to countermand lessons in evolution, unflattering histories, sex education, the science of climate change and anything else deemed other than anodyne and orthodox, school distinct will be required to retain the services of an “unbiased” inquiry officer—a sort of devil’s advocate to judge the educational merits of text-books, documentaries, film and literature on a case by case basis. It is rather a challenge to strictly compartmentalise disciplines when it comes to the sciences and I can see archeology, geology and cosmology being struck down along the spectrum as well. By its nature, teaching is not without controversy and has always been under the assault of cowards but never before in modern times was one allowed to lodge a grievance that’s to result in binding censorship without legal standing (locus standi)—that someone not directly affected or has a stake in the matter can indict a class curriculum for everyone.
catagories: ⚖️, ๐บ๐ธ, ๐, environment
opposition, appostition
Eager to instigate a conversation on what is meant by ability and disability and to what degree the senses and dexterity is hard-wired, a graduate student from New Zealand has created a prosthetic thumb that can enhance and extend one’s five-fingered capabilities.
This project is more than an academic pursuit, I think, given that the opposable pollex imparted a distinct evolutionary, manual advantage for humans. Presently, the device worn like a wrist-watch and is controlled by adjusting pressure in one’s feet—the coordination sort of like playing a musical instrument, which the extra thumb is also changing but could probably just as easily made subject to mental regulation and intention. I wonder what sort of phantom limb feelings might linger after trying out one of these prosthetics after getting accustomed to it. Be sure to check out the source link up top to see a full demonstration and more applications.