7x7

yōkainoshima: Charles Fréger photographs the monsters of Japanese folklore (more yōkai here, here and here)

arm + bend = elbow: more clever word sums from Futility Closet

oктя́брьская револю́ция: to mark the centenary since the start of the Russian revolution curators at

the Hermitage ceremoniously re-started the clocks stopped the moment Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace

tessellation: gorgeous drawing game inspired by Islamic art and architectural forms, via Waxy

zeroth law: Saudi Arabia confers citizenship on an android plus plans to build a robot pleasure megacity

moment factory: Montreal’s basilica transformed into an immersive multi-media experience in hopes to renew appreciation for the landmark

monsterpiece theatre: a nice appreciation of Cookie Monster, the academic muppet

regnum, cladus, ordo

Though only introduced (I believe despite having grown up in their natural range) to the oversized fruit via a vicarious taste-test just a little while ago, I was pretty intrigued by the suggestion that the Osage orange (Maclura pomifera, known by a variety of names including hedge apples ) might be a remnant of days when mega-fauna roamed the plains of North America. In evolutionary terms, ten thousand years—especially for long-lived, hardy trees (there was a campaign to plant them across farming regions as wind-breaks after the Dust Bowl) has not given the species sufficient time to notice that there are no longer giant sloths, mammoths or buffalo to propagate their seeds and shrink their fruit down to something more portable and appetising.
The avocado might be another candidate as a prehistoric hold-over—though our intentional cultivation efforts has caused major changes in the past epoch to the taste and size of fruits and vegetables as well and in the wilds, left to themselves, take other paths for other palettes.

as one does

In addition to the royal “we” or pluralis majestatis, there is the contrasting practise of invoking the pronoun when expressing opinions referred to as the editorial “we”—pluralis modestiæ, in the sense of either acting as a spokesperson or referring to the reader and the author. In general, addressing oneself (or another, usually with in a patronising, shaming tone) with agreeing inflections in the first person plural is called nosism.

pseudomonarchia dæmonum

We enjoyed exploring Jacques Collin de Plancy’s comprehensive reference on demonology, le Dictionnaire Infernal, with Public Domain Review as our dark companion and guide. First published in 1818 to a rather startlingly resounding reception (given relatively enlightened nature of the era) it was the sixth and final version that was illustrated by maritime painter Louis Le Breton (working from earlier engravings) that cemented the book’s popularity in 1863 and haunted the reader with superstitions which the author and the age had believed themselves to have matured beyond.  The occult has always managed to gain a purchase in times when rationality and reason seems on the rise and de Plancy himself vacillated in his belief as he embarked on his project, but in seeking to formally classify and describe the hierarchy of that universe may help to reconcile that dissonance.

kennzeichen

Once automobiles in Germany attain a certain age (a calculus of year of manufacture and number of vehicles produced) they are classed as Old Timers (what we’d call classic cars) and have an H added to their vehicle registration plates (see more about German and European license plates and tags here, here and here). Fully-electric vehicles have for the past few years earned an E at the end.
I was very happy to find out that in Poland, antique autos are distinguished with an old-fashioned coach. Vehicles registered to Americans stationed in Germany have undergone several different iterations of markings—going from having them really stand out to blending in.

booming sands

I had heard the expression before but I had always guessed it had something to do with drilling for oil, and I appreciated being disabused of that misconception in a very harmonious and smoothing way with an artist’s concept to bring the sonic experience also known as singing sands to a wider audience who may not have the means of traveling to the remote deserts to hear it for themselves. When conditions are just right, the avalanche and advance of shifting dunes produce a droning, resonate sound. The artist, Lotte Geeven based in Amsterdam, has collected sound samples from some of the estimated thirty-five sites around the world where this phenomenon occurs and is now soliciting for source samples of the sand from these locations. Working with scientists and engineers, the artist has devised a whirling circular drum with amplifiers to recreate the unique timbre and soundscape of the world’s deserts.