oh border where art thou?

After presenting an interesting tutorial on how to use map and satellite telemetry as movie narrative, Maps Mania was directed towards the work of Keith O’Faoláin—who took a break from surveying ring forts to consider the soft and porous border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (previously) and how uncertain Brexit outcomes exacerbate the situation immensely. More to explore at the link above including resources to learn more about the border in decades past.

the valley and bailiwick

Having declared independence once before only to have it reigned back in, the Caribbean island of Anguilla held a second referendum whose votes nearly unanimously favoured disassociating itself from the colonial governor of Saint Kitts and proclaimed itself a republic on this day in 1969.
The chairman of the freshly constituted Island Council expelled the British envoy and for about forty days basked in its freedom. On 18 March, a contingent of paratroopers and London constables peacefully occupied the island and restored order. Disappointed by this denial for self-determination, negotiations ensued and Anguilla was granted the right to “secede” from Saint Kitts, which ironically gained full independence as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis in 1983 while Anguilla remains an overseas territory. The triskelion of dolphins on the flag and coat of arms reminds one of the Manx flag, itself a crown dependency and neither part of the United Kingdom nor a part of the former empire.

snowtyres

From the always excellent Nag on the Lake, we learn about a rather rare weather phenomenon—not often encountered due to the exacting conditions necessary and first described during Roald Amundsen during his 1911 expedition to the South Pole but now that everyone carries a camera at all times, we are treated to ample evidence—called snow rollers. A modest gust of wind propels a kernel of snow near the melting pointing across a wet, loose surface and collects layers, tubular formations that leave tread rather than a typical snowball. Be sure to visit the link above to learn more and see video footage of snow rollers in action.

7x7

suburbia: Eliza Gosse paints Australian Mid-Century modern homes

emancipation of the dissonance: economist and performer Merle Hazard delivers an atonal tune

threadstories: crocheted masks and headdresses examine our online avatars and personæ

autoglyphs: Michael Light takes an aerial survey of the arid American west

forget about it: a versatile Italian word to know

needs more salt: a seasonings purveyor and a tech company collaborate to optimise spicing up your recipes

byggeskikk: a photographer becomes quite taken with a picturesque cabin 

indy films

Dissatisfied with the studio system of Hollywood and its stifling of the creative process, veteran actors and stakeholders Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and DW Griffith incorporated United Artists on this day in 1919 as a joint venture. The label and library have changed hands many times over the ensuing decades, a subsidiary of the production and distribution hegemony that they tried to liberate themselves from, but still represent the rebellious and the unfettered in moviemaking.

the mike curb congregation

Our thanks to Weird Universe for the civics lesson and introduction to musician, record label executive, and one-time Lieutenant Governor of the State of California under the first administration of Jerry Brown, Michael Curb.
Though while the governor is outside of the state, the Lieutenant Governor becomes the acting executor and can rather incredibly work to reverse legislation, the two officer holders are elected separately and are not running-mates, like a vice-president—as is the case in seventeen other US states. While the musical stylings of Curb’s group were not overtly political, collaborating with several musical acts and Lalo Schifrin and winning commendations for the below score for Clint Eastwood’s Kelly’s Heroes and the Liza Minnelli musical Liza with a Z, learning that Curb scored the presidential campaigns of Richard Nixon—“Nixon Now (More than Ever)”—and Ronald Reagan “Together, A New Beginning” gave some pause, though that’s far from career-defining, and nonetheless, California remains a magical place, and there’s more.