Having finally conceded to Swedish industrialist and con-artist Ivar Kreuger’s overtures (see link below for more on the Match King) for a financial lifeline to the struggling Weimar Republic (obligated to pay reparations for World War I with most other legitimate means of borrowing or issuing bonds severely limited), the Reichtag on this day in 1930 passed the Flammables Monopoly Law (see previously), awarding exclusive manufacturing rights to Kreuger and his subsidiaries. Quotas at fixed prices were extended to factories that bought into the scheme and were sold to the public at a set price, generating revenue to repay the bond instalments with interest, an arrangement which otherwise would have continued in perpetuity but debts were settled finally in 1983 by West Germany, the East having no truck with this deal.
Saturday 28 January 2023
Friday 27 January 2023
ars notaria (10. 503)
Via Clive Thompson’s latest linkfest, which is a delight in itself to check in on often, we are introduced to the Cistercian system of ciphers, almost rune-like, developed by the monastic order parallel to the arrival of the Hindu-Arabic numerals in northwestern Europe which gradually replaced Roman notation, this stave system of units was far more compact and convenient for transcription as a single glyph could represent any value from one to ten-thousand. The pattern for forming higher numbers becomes apparent and later scholars expanded the system exponentially into the trillions. While seemingly not used for calculation, manuscripts from the thirteenth century show that they were used for numbering lists, indices, tables, musical notation and foliation—that is, page numbers. For more exploration and for a challenge (see also), click through to find source code to make a Cistercian clock.
catagories: ๐ฃ, ๐งฎ, Middle Ages
and the girl in the corner is everyone’s mourner—she could kill you with a wink of the eye (10. 502)
Inspired by a unruly audience driving the band off the stage on this day in 1973 whilst performing in Kilmarnoc at the Grand Hall of the Palace Theatre—the booing and bottling ensuing perhaps the British glam rock group didn’t fit in with the rest of the line up—The Sweet would go on to release in September one of their biggest hits narrating the tense moments before their exuent. The Ballroom Blitz has been covered numerous times and featured in the soundtrack of several films including Wayne’s World.
catagories: ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐ถ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ, 1973
corecore (10. 501)
Just as a digital culture correspondent hailed the movement as an “anti-trend,” the Dadaists that it is being compared to proclaimed that “Dada is the anti-Dada,” but the facetious take on the burdened suffix to denote a range of highly specific aesthetics and welling, small-batch fads do both attach meaning to the meaningless. Attendant with all the staples of being chronically engaged in online platforms, the best examples of the super-cut meme are touchstones of both estranging anxiety (keenly self-aware that the same platforms are a major and perpetuating contributor) and over-familiar nostalgia. Sample more at Hyperallergic at the link above.
catagories: ๐️, ๐ง , networking and blogging
paris peace accords (10. 500)
Negotiations finalised between Lรช ฤแปฉc Thแป and Henry Kissinger on 24 January and nearly derailed the day before by the Battle of Cแปญa Viแปt, the treaty officially known as the Agreement of Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (Hiแปp ฤแปnh vแป chแบฅm dแปฉt chiแบฟn tranh, lแบญp lแบกi hรฒa bรฌnh แป Viแปt Nam) was signed on this day in 1973 at the Hรดtel Majestic on Avenue Klรฉber in the XVI
Thursday 26 January 2023
statistical breviary (10. 499)
Currently on exhibit at the National Arts Club in New York City, we are finding ourselves preoccupied with the presentation of Greg Colson and his studies in pie charts that reflect our collective and dissected anxieties and fear, surveyed as they are suggesting that each wedge might be susceptible to reduction or expansion in a way that’s wiser than the format seems at first glance. More at Hyperalleric at the link above.
catagories: ๐จ, ๐ฅ, ๐️, ๐ง , libraries and museums
6x6 (10. 498)
trattoria: the invention of Fettuccine Alfredo—a labour of love
masstransiscope: a zoetrope to be enjoyed at speed by NYC subway passengers—see alsochucoํsol: the need for new weather words to reflect living through the climate catastrophe
break five: a comprehensive guide to celebrating the Lunar New Year on mainland China—via tmn
boogaloo in apartment 41: the musical stylings of Ozzie Torrens and his Exciting Orchestra
melts in your mouth: M&Ms spokescandies finally forced into retreat by conservative pundits
money to burn (10. 497)
Once seized as the counterfeiting scheme of a mysterious Frenchman, Public Domain Review contributor Dorinda Evans reassesses the hyperrealistic paintings of Victor Dubreuil of US paper currency as a social critique of capitalism and exploitative working practises at a time when few were openly questioning the status quo. These still lives with dollars and trompe l’oeil paintings of legal tender enjoyed some contemporary popularity in addition to scrutiny by the US for the starving artist but most missed the anti-imperialism, anti-kleptocractic allegory of Dubreuil. Find a whole gallery of his works at the link above.