skyfall

At around four-thirty in the afternoon universal coordinated time (plus eight hours local time) on this day in 1979, debris from NASA’s abandoned but not unsuccessful space station project Skylab that was not incinerated upon its uncontrolled re-entry landed in the Shire of Esperance on the coast of Western Australia.
Fortunately the space junk caused no injury or damage and there was a media frenzy of speculation of where and when the craft might crash-land with contests and wagers made. A few days afterwards local farmers recovered a huge oxygen tank and it was decided by show masters-of-ceremonies to display it as a prop on the stage of the Miss Universe pageant that had been scheduled for later in the month in nearby Perth—hosted by The Price is Right’s Bob Barker—whose weight combined with seventy-five contestants assembled to sing a rousting rendition of Waltzing Matilda made the dais a little structurally unstable. Fortunately no beauty contestants were harmed in this mission either. Having garnered valuable lessons from the first attempt, the US planned next for Space Station Freedom whose programme would eventual merge with the International Space Station, commissioned in 1998.

for here am i sitting in a tin can

Though lyrically and stylistically informed by the previous year’s release of the Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey (previously), David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (previously) had a delayed release—a version was recorded back in February—owing to an earlier split with his old record label and Bowie’s new artists and repertoire managing group decided to release the song on this day in 1969, just nine days ahead of the Apollo 11 mission, to capitalise on the publicity of that event. Due to the tone and the unresolved finish, the BBC network of stations refrained from playing the song until the crew of the lunar excursion were safely back on Earth.

without fear nor favour

Chillingly and contemptibly, one of the forerunners to be the next Prime Minister of the UK refused to lend his support to the country’s diplomatic corps which precipitated the resignation of a long-serving civil servant and ambassador to the US after having become the target of Donald Trump’s virulent attacks and being effectively froze out of affairs of state as UK’s ombudsman and chief representation.
A frank and unapologetic (not to mention wholly accurate) missive framing the regime as incompetent, thin-skinned and depressingly perhaps not a single-term prospect emerged—which is precisely the sort of candid assessment that an ambassador is supported to deliver, currying Trump’s disfavour and the candidate husting for leadership (also former Foreign Minister) essentially acquiesced and allowed UK foreign policy to be undermined and dictated by a foreign power. Not to credit either of these dolts with a shred of strategic thinking, this travesty might have been suffered because of the UK’s precarious situation and need for the US as a trading partner post-Brexit and desire to keep America happy and on friendly terms. Diplomats were quick to anger and quick to forget the regrettable characterisations revealed by Wikileaks and the cable-gate fiasco but equally realise the importance of being able to express honest opinions. In the same debate, the party heir-apparent also refused to rule out suspending parliamentary proceedings in order to force through a no-deal Brexit. Whilst one of the original arguments in favour of leaving the EU was to preserve the sovereignty of Parliament, the ministerial candidate would leave the option of proroguing on the table to safeguard against a legislative impasse and further delays, a power not exercised since 1629 with Charles I—something that eventually led to the king’s executive and the interregnum with rule by Oliver Cromwell. A matter of royal prerogative, the new Prime Minister would need to seek permission from the Queen in order to suspend Parliament, pulling her majesty back into politics and the Brexit question.

minimal republics

As part of an on-going series called “Stupid Borders,” Nag on the Lake introduces us to the work of artist and activist Rubén Martín de Lucas who cordoned off several one-hundred square metre parcels of land on the outskirts of Madrid and lived in then for a full day in order to underscore the very abstract and othering concept of national boundaries. Dangerous and deluded as such ideas may be, it is worth reflecting on how the accruing of the unreal—be it faith in a fiat currency or any type of self-interested association, has the fate of civilisation and the world entire hinging on it.

starfish prime

As part of a series of nuclear armaments testing called Project Fishbowl, begun in response to the USSR’s announcement that it would be withdrawing from a mutual moratorium on test launches, the above high-altitude explosion took place on this day in 1962 about four hundred kilometres above Johnston Atoll in the Pacific.
Though nearly fifteen hundred kilometres away, the afterglow and aurora was visible in Honolulu and the electromagnetic pulse it generated (part of the stated goals of the tests were to have a better understanding the disabling effects of the weapon’s fallout)—even in an era when electronics were not so pervasive and indispensable—knocked hundreds of streetlamps and cut off telephone communications. The radiation belt of high-energy electrons lingered in the atmosphere (see also) and caused at least six communications satellites to fail, including the UK’s first satellite, Ariel 1, put in orbit just in April of that year.

urban dictionary

Our thanks once again to Nag on the Lake for directing our attention to the 1909 compendium of nineteenth century slang by J Redding Ware called “Passing English of the Victorian Era.”
Some gems that ought to revived—though one needs to filter through a lot of phrases that have gladly passed out of fashion—include Puncheous Pilate, defined as the jocose address to another in protest of some small asserted authority, S’elp me, Bob, an appeal to the nearest authority at hand, Totty All Colours, a young person who has contrived to incorporate most of the colours of the rainbow into his or her outfit, and mafficking—that is, to get rowdy in the streets. Page through the dictionary and let us know what antiquated slang we ought to champion.

fruchtfolge

Though maybe I am just doing a better job paying attention—which certainly counts for something too—and being engaged with the consequences of our behaviour for the environment or maybe it’s the recently adopted legislation and agricultural reforms made to be more sustainable and friendlier for pollinators, while I’ve noticed that crop-rotation and allowing fields to be fallow for a season, recharging the soil by sewing clover or grasses and letting it rest, I don’t think I’ve seen before sections of land, vast swaths of it, wholly given over to wildflowers like I am seeing now.
It isn’t just the margins and shoulders along tractor trails that are teeming with blooms but also deep into the interior of grain crops, thick with cornflowers (Cyanus segetum, Kornblume—considered endangered due to over-use of pesticides), poppies (Papaver rhoeas, Mohnblume), baby’s breath (Gypsophila paniculata, Schleier-Gipskraut—that is, chalk-loving), thistles (Silybum marianum, Disteln) and daisies (Bellis perennis—pretty everlasting, Gänseblümchen), the fields are droning with the buzz of bees.