The debut song of the Lebanese-British glam graphic designer rock artist born Michael Holbrook Penninman Jr rose to the top of the UK charts on this day in 2007—after an appearance on the talk show Later… with Jools Holland—and holding number one for five weeks would go on to become the third best-selling single for that year, bested by Amy Winehouse. From his autobiographical musical anthology, “Grace Kelly” references MIKA’s influences (“so I tried a little Freddie”) and is the opening track of his first studio album Life in Cartoon Motion and begins with a exchange of dialogue from the Princess of Monaco’s film The Country Girl. The melody is a reference to the aria “Largo al factotum” that Figaro performs in Rossini’s Barber of Seville.
Saturday 21 January 2023
7x7 (10. 484)
between two ferns: chats with “historical figures” have been regrettable—see previously
nuscale for scale: US authorities approve design for the first generation of small, modular reactors
all things bright and beautiful: a compelling argument to enjoy the All Creatures Great and Small reboot
circular sun house: Frank Lloyd Wright’s final completed project (see also) on the edge of the Phoenix Mountains Nature Preserve goes on the market
closed captioning: as a bilingual family, we always relied on subtitles and appreciated this primer on why we’re not alone
content mill: CNET magazine suspends automated articles after an embarrassing disclosure
Friday 20 January 2023
can’t do hands (10. 483)
Via Web Curios, we are directed towards a rather nightmarish gallery of the myriad ways that early and contemporary, cutting-edge image generators alike make malformed human hands. It took me a long time to see this mural in Wiesbaden as the interlocking fingers for rebuilding but it did eventually register. There’s uncanny valley to describe the off-puttingness of a simulation that’s just too close to reality but there’s no agreed-upon term for its corollary. What would you call it? Such mangled hammer-toes only are relatable in a society in an era beyond such imitations and manual simulacra. How would you like to be vetted?
entente, dรฉtente (10. 482)
NATO leaders and affiliates met on the US Air Base in Ramstein with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss continued commitment to arming the beleaguered nation against Russian incursion and again press donor countries on the issue of the delivery of tanks and other heavy armaments. The US and Germany (newly minted Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on his second day on the job) unwilling to pledge either their Abrams tanks or their Leopard 2 Panzer (many European militaries are equipped with this German-made assault vehicle but cannot export them without German consent) and waiting for the other party to make the first move. This coyness is continued in the argument that stocks of the Soviet era weapons that Ukrainian forces are accustomed to are running low and that Western models are notoriously fussy, high maintenance and require specialised training to operate, but conceals the more salient factor of firing range that puts Russian territory within reach and could swiftly escalate the conflict already characterised as a proxy war between NATO and Russia on one side and dread hesitation on the other.
Thursday 19 January 2023
7x7 (10. 481)
distressed property: no interested buyers for North Hollywood Crypto House—via Miss Cellania
rabbit on the moon: some communities following the luni-solar calendar readying for the Year of the Cat
cartoon dynamo: a century later, a 1923 editorial foreshadows automated arthigh stakes brinksmanship: the US Treasury turns to extraordinary measures to avoid default on debt repayments
peer-reviewed: many scientists disapprove of ChatGPT cited as a contributing author on research papers
unbuilt: rendered images of Frank Lloyd Wright’s unrealised architecture
childhood lottery dream home achieved: a selection of properties on the market, courtesy of Zillow Gone Wild
catagories: ๐ป๐ณ, ๐ , ๐ผ️, ๐ค, architecture
living in love and faith (10. 480)
Concluding an extended period of consultation following the 2013 legal recognition of same-sex marriages in England and Wales, a council of Anglican bishops have announced their intent that the Church of England’s stance on sexuality should not be subject to change. The matter to be debated at a General Synod in February, the Church—which was established expressly to question authority on the sanctity of matrimony when the Pope refused to grant Henry XIII an annulment—is stopping short of performing itself gay marriages though significantly drops a 1991 rule that clergy members in same-sex relationships must remain celibate, issued a blanket apology for its behaviour towards the LGBTQ+ community and retains blessing for civil marriages of gay couples. Though not yet amenable to the ceremony, it does represent progress.
catagories: ✝️, ๐ณ️๐, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐️
Wednesday 18 January 2023
9x9 (10. 479)
under the gavel: a distressed Twitter is auctioning off office furnishings from its San Francisco headquarters
best mates: a meta-study of attracting and retaining intimate partners
demidecimate: Microsoft announces layoff five percent of its workforce
from permacrisis to polycrisis: selection of global buzzwords for 2023style guide: an eccentric alternate spelling circulated in a newspaper for three decades—without explanation or apology
wellipets: frog-faced galoshes make a haute couture return
©: Getty Images is filing suite against an AI art tool for scraping its content—via the new shelton wet/dry
fechtbรผcher: early Renaissance depicts of duels between men and women
silicon valley: a tech bust might be a net positive for the city
dglflf (10. 478)
A unit of the Ministry of Culture and Communications and successor to the “High Committee of the French Language” which was established on this day in 1973 by the government of Charles de Gaulle to find authentically French substitutes for some three hundred and fifty creeping Anglicisms, la Dรฉlรฉgation gรฉnรฉrale ร la langue franรงaise et aux langues de France, essential is a continuation of that original mission and charge, though now importantly acknowledging a plurality of languages of the country—see also here and here. Five decades ago, changes included dropping flashback for retrospectif, palmarรจs for charts or hit parade and navire citene for tanker.