Our thanks to Memo of the Air for referring us to this low-stakes version of the dramatic principle of narrative parsimony and the clearing away of MacGuffins and red-herrings that’s come to be known as Chekhov’s Gun—appearing in the collected correspondence of the renowned Russian playwright.
Like the host not wanting to presume that we need the joke explained to us, but as Anton Chekhov implored his interlocutor, fellow author A. S. Gruzinsky, to “remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter [act] that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third it absolutely must go off. If it is not going to be fired, it should not be hanging there.” Contrarily, other writers—like Ernest Hemingway—have put extra stock in these incidental details, insisting that the reader wants and deserves a subject to read into even if there’s no payoff, like bottle-episodes and (see above) Monster-of-the-Week. Read the rest of the comics from Ruben Bolling (previously) at the link above.
Sunday 14 July 2019
чеховское жвачка
half-staff
We enjoyed this informative graphic by xkcd (aka Randall Munroe, previously) on flag interpretation and special hoisting protocols to signal distress, mourning, respect and apparently also bewilderment—the flag lowered, at least in accordance with some traditions, to make room for an “invisible flag of death” on the flagpole to fly above it. Visit the link above to see all the panels and discover more of Munroe’s comics.
Saturday 13 July 2019
gouden eeuw
Similar to an ongoing restoration of a Johannes Vermeer work in line with the artist’s intent, Cynical-C directs our attention to a work by Dutch Golden Age painter Judith Jans Leyster (*1609 – †1660), an avowed talent among her peers and accepted into the Haarlem Guild but rather tragically forgotten after her death, called The Last Drop.
Somewhat rehabilitated and recognised as a pioneer among her cohort around the turn of the last century (though this painting was still misattributed until a keen observer noticed her JL* monogram on the tipped tankard), it is thought that a dealer committed the act of overpainting the skeletal figure brandishing an hourglass—which surely held significance as the dissolution that revelry ultimately brings as there was an accompanying genre piece called the Merry Trio (one dropped out apparently) that depicts an earlier phase of drinking, to make the work more marketable and less moralising when it was acquired by the Guildhall gallery in London in 1908. After extensive research and x-ray analysis, curators were able to bring back the original scene in the 1990s.
manhattanhenge
Because the concrete and steel canyons of New York City follow a grid that’s offset from true West by twenty-nine degrees, the sunset does not align with the summer and winter solstices but rather on dates spread out evenly around them, namely 31 May, 12 – 13 July and on 22 December, drifting slightly from year to year. Here is a picture courtesy of Space Weather from last evening taken from one of the best vantage points in the city, looking down 34
7x7
fly me to the moons: an interactive atlas of the Solar System’s two hundred known natural satellites—via Maps Mania
favourite things: ten things beloved by US president John Quincy Adams
canopies: stunning forest photography from Manueli Bececco—see also
placă ceramică: an introduction to the incredible geometries of Romanian socialist era tilework
fine deerscald: a neural network brews up a cuppa—previously
sinistral teichopsia: antique illustrations of aura signatures (scintillating scotoma) that precede the onset of a migraine
republic of minerva: how an utopian micronation and sea-steading caused an international incident in the early 1970s
orrery: four thousand confirmed exoplanets charted in sight and sound
plainsong or novum organum
Via Kottke’s Quick Links, we are invited to remix a studio session of Gregorian chant, adding hum, reverb and more church bell as well as a number of preset modes and voices. Although traditionally credited to Gregory I, the musical style is likely a synthesis of Roman and French choral customs, evolving into an elaborate, articulated system of chords and cadences as performers and composers became more keenly aware of the numeracy of song, though assuredly championed by the music-loving Pope. Notation and scale developed from this chant tradition, with the eventual eight modes being Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian and Mixolydian and their (hypo-) subordinates.
Friday 12 July 2019
herd immunity
As the Chorus bemoans in Sophocles’ Antigone, “Nothing that is vast enters the life of mortals without a curse,” technology—impelled in part by not only the forces of capitalism and the need to maintain market and industry dominance but also by dint of our own inclination to laziness and decision-fatigue—has been an incredible support and source of solace and progress but likewise delivers a vehicle for remorse and helps us to bite off far more than we can chew. We are not good at self-assessment and postponing gratification. This latest edition of NPR’s TED Radio Hour explores the topic of digital manipulation and what lies behind the screen from several angles and is definitely food-for-thought.
遍地開花
After the storming of the Legislative Council building on the 1 July anniversary of the 1997 return of the former UK crown colony of Hong Kong to China, protesters have embraced non-violent ways of continuing to express their displeasure and fear that the residents of territory will see liberties erode further.
Taking a cue from the Lennon Wall in Prague, activists have canvased any available space with colourful self-adhering notices, an outlet that’s passive and anonymous enough to keep most individuals out of danger but still one that the authorities cannot easily ignore and now the symbols themselves incite rallies around pro- and anti-government camps. The title refers to the spontaneity of the walls as “blossoming everywhere.” These mosaics, with tens of thousands of missives advocating for freedom and democracy, originate from a central display in Hong Kong five years earlier, erected during the Umbrella Movement, a seventy-nine day occupation of the city to demand transparency in municipal elections—which were perceived to be controlled by Beijing. Protesters carried umbrellas to shield themselves from tear gas that the police lobbed at them to break up the crowds.
