7x7

pizzo: the Trump Crime Syndicate is expecting host nation partners to pay a big premium for US troops stationed there—via Miss Cellania’s Links

big and heavy: industrial pamphlets, 1932-1941

reef of silence: an underwater necropolis is proposed as a funerary venue that will rehabilitate coral habitats

chichén itzá: researchers uncover a trove of ancient Mayan artefacts in the Cave of the Jaguar God

shūnyatā: a few moments of guided meditation from Alan Watts

do you know the way to san jose: Silicon Valley plans a monument to Silicon Valley—via Digg

tit-for-tat: though short of needing special entry- and tourist-visas US travellers to Europe will need to pre-register, like with the American ESTA programme 

standard bearer

Via the always brilliant Nag on the Lake, we discover that filmmaker Daniel McKee has selected, identified and carefully arranged over two thousand flags, banners and ensigns from all ages into a montage with fluid transformations as the vexillological elements (see also here, here, here and here) blend into one another synchronised to the sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven.

firestarter

News of singer and vocalist of The Prodigy Keith Flint’s suicide (RIP, *1969 – †2019) earlier in the week was a sad shock for both H and me and enjoyed reading about the outpouring of memories and testimonials in the former Soviet satellite states whose music and engagement came just at the crux of societal upheaval and finding new footing. I had not realised what sort of ambassadors the band were, playing in Belgrade scant days before the Bosnian War came to an end. Read more tributes at the link up top.

debutante

As our faithful chronicler informs, on this day among many other premieres, anniversaries and occasions of pith and moment, in 1959 Barbie had her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York City. The first doll with adult features for sale in the US (that is, not an infant to care for but rather a role model), Barbie was modelled by Ruth Handler off of her more mature German cousin Bild Lilli, who graced the funny-pages of a Hamburg tabloid before being marketed to adults and sold in figurine form.

kenyér varázslat

Our thanks to always bewitching Art of Darkness for revealing to us a common trope through Hungarian folklore in the apotropaic magic of bread. To ward off impending evil, tradition dictates that one simply place a loaf of bread in a windowsill and allow the bread to speak for itself:

First they buried me under the ground, and I survived. When I sprouted and thrived they cruelly cut me down with by sickle, yet I survived. They threshed me with the flails and I survived. They ground me to flower with their millstone yet I survived. They kneaded me in a bowl, and then they put me in a hot over to bake me and I have survived. Have you done all these things? Until you live through all these things, you have no power here.

Though this stems from the same superstitions that cause one to fret over vampire pumpkins (which would seem to kind of cancel things out), I do like imagining some twee croissant standing up to maleficent forces demanding admission into one’s house and being roundly rebuffed.

7x7

see saw margery daw: a look at the illustrated Nursery Songs of William Darton, Jr

i know you are but what am i: an AI designed to detect bot-written text—previously

bespoke: a fun round-up of design oddities

ziegelei: a private brick museum (with eighteen hundred unique specimens) in Berlin documents the history of industry and architectural growth in German and beyond

simpson, eh? yes sir—all the recent events in your life have revolved around him in some way: Apple’s patient CEO has not been the only name that Trump has forgotten

colombophilie militarire: the past, present and future use of pigeons for espionage and wartime communications—via the New Shelton Wet/Dry

wither shall I wander: an epistolary look at the character Mother Goose—via Strange Company 

krusty gets kancelled

We’ll strive for some karmic balance again through The Simpsons but this time with a fonder portrayal of someone recently departed with the fourth season episode (1993) where the Krusty the Clown Show is upstaged by a newcomer ventriloquist act and in order to get his show reinstated on the air, Lisa and Bart Simpson arrange a comeback special with a cast of celebrity cameos.
Having lost the rights to Itchy and Scratchy to the competition, Krusty runs an Eastern European cartoon called “Worker and Parasite” as ratings drop and his show is cancelled. In response to the overtures of the Simpsons kids, Luke Perry (RIP *1966 - †2019, who helps Krusty reunite with his estranged co-host Sideshow Mel, is joined by an ensemble cast including Johnny Carson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hugh Hefner and Bette Midler.  

philosophy of the world

Encouraged by a rather underhanded, fly-by-night record label that billed itself as a talent-scout and dream factory, band manager and stage father of the sister act The Shaggs Austin Wiggin, Jr rounded up his daughters, Helen, Betty, Rachel and Dot, and drove them to a recording studio in Boston to produce their one and only album on this day in 1969. Critical reception was harsh—unduly so, we think—directing such vitriol at teenagers that their dad wanted to showcase, but have been rehabilitated and gained status in later years as a cult sensation and even had a stage musical, off-Broadway tribute in 2011. Check out the full record below.