usonian airstream (12. 537)

Though very happy with our camping trailer and certainly not in the market for a new second-home, we were very much enamoured with this collaboration between the aerodynamic caravan company known for its distinctive aluminium coachwork and Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to bring the design approach and aesthetic of the architect to mobility and travel, courtesy of Nag on the Lake. Not inspired by a single property, the unit was designed by teams from both organisations at Wright’s Taliesin West studio in Arizona, the eight-and-a-half metre model is certainly informed by the Usonian ideal—a unified vision for landscaping, civil-engineering, typified by the middle class ranch-style home, interiors exposed to the outside, free of previous architectural conventions. Although the term was popularised by Wright in a 1927 manifesto—around the same time as the introduction of the Airstream, its first use preceded the architect’s by a couple decades with a Scottish writer called James Duff Law proposed that, in deference to indigenous people, Canadians and Mexicans, inhabitants of the US had no exclusive right to the title Americans—suggesting adopting the alternate style, “Usonia”—for the United States of North Independent America, though sort of a retronym, losing nationalistic flavour in later use. The kitchenette and overall floor plan matches ours pretty closely. Much more at the links above.

si vis pacem para pactum (12. 536)

As if Trump’s low turn-out, low-energy birthday parade was not already overshadowed by the poor juxtaposition of the crack down on protests in Los Angeles and the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, with no boots on the ground though America can hardly claim it’s not deeply entrenched, the politically motivated assassination of a Minnesota state legislator by a crazed MAGA evangelist still at large and with a kill-list of other politicians, the surprise from Israel on Iran gave some in the administration a chance to try to have it both ways. Like the false claims last month of brokering a cease fire between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, despite vehement disavowal of having anything to do with the strikes on Iranian cities and infrastructure, Trump is insisting that peace is contingent upon Iran settling the nuclear deal—talks scheduled to continue in Oman next week—as if Israeli incursions were leverage in the negotiations, if anything possibly a provocation to draw the US into the situation. The last time Washington DC hosted a military parade of comparable scale was in 1991 as a premature victory celebration for the hundred-day Persian Gulf War, what became a multipart quagmire squandering many lives and much treasure, the US resuming its push to remove Saddam Hussein after premised on the untrue narratives of Baghdad involvement with the 9/11 terror attacks and Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction. America should have lost global trust and confidence back then. Now, with Iran having been only five years away from producing a ballistic nuclear missile for the past thirty years (and surely have been capable of making an arsenal but chose not to despite decades of conflicts with neighbours including Iraq and Israel), the Trump administration and his negotiators are using the WMD playbook once again and this time, the world is far more skeptical of their motives to stoke forever wars.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Dutch roll (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: more links to enjoy, Trump’s migrant detention centres, fear of palindromes plus Stephen Hawking interred with honours

eight years ago: Ford’s soybean car plus the feast of Corpus Christi

nine years ago: the UK’s proposed withdrawal from the EU, even more links, machine dreams plus the long-s

ten years ago: a visit to Gemünden am Main, the internet of trolls plus a church that resembles the courthouse from Back to the Future

no kings (12. 535)

“One rapid but fairly sure guide to the social atmosphere of a country is the parade-step of its army. A military parade is really a kind of ritual dance, something like a ballet, expressing a certain philosophy of life. The goose-step, for instance, is one of the most horrible sights in the world, far more terrifying than a dive-bomber. It is simply an affirmation of naked power; contained in it, quite consciously and intentionally, is the vision of a boot crashing down on a face. Its ugliness is part of its essence, for what it is saying is ‘Yes, I am ugly, and you daren’t laugh at me’, like the bully who makes faces at his victim.” George Orville in his 1941 essay England Your England went on to ask: “Why is the goose-step not used in England?…It is not used because the people in the street would laugh. Beyond a certain point, military display is only possible in countries where the common people dare not laugh at the army”. That’s a sobering observation and it bring me back to Mr Trump’s military parade.  There will be no—officially, we think—such ar march but Mr Trump is leading America into a phase in which it will dare not laugh at the army or  himself, though laughable it was

the new tymbal orchestra (12. 534)

Although seemingly a bit cruel, the conscripted performers were unharmed by this musical interlude—we learn via Strange Company—that a group of students at Cornell university have demonstrated that cicadas connected to tiny electrodes can be stimulated to chirp on demand as a sort of insect-computer hybrid sound-system. The orchestra is coordinated and they keep time with the piece, Pachelbel’s Canon in D (plus ‘Danger Zone’ from Top Gun), but the individuals’ biological variation and agency, as with all musicians, comes through to show they’re not cyborgs. The researchers don’t plan to make some new bizarre symphonium out of their test subjects but rather hope to further research into such collaborations to harness nature to forego wiring and components and ultimately decrease the impact of deploying infrastructure, especially for ad hoc and emergency situations.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: an MS Paint photo filter (with synchronoptica), commemorating mass-deportations from the Baltic states under Soviet rule plus comedians get a papal audience

seven years ago: a Bayeux tapestry of a government worker’s office calendar, mapping out Dante’s Inferno plus sobriety tests for passengers

eight years ago: deifying the Singularity, simulating the universe, early ink-blots plus an antique railway hotel

nine years ago: massacre motivations, motion-capture technology, the foot from Monty Python, more on the mass-shooting in Orlando, EU proposes using Türkei as a buffer zone for migration plus a Photo-Shop battle for the Queen

ten years ago: Doomsday bunkers plus finding Dr Livingstone

devil’s tuning fork (12. 533)

Albeit a bit headache inducing, we enjoyed revisiting the impossible trident, an undecipherable, undecidable figure—which as a flat representation of a real world object seems to be intuitable but defies the laws of physical coherence—in this variation on the blivet by Nevit Dilmen with it conflicting lines of perspective, making an accurate accounting out of the question.

ecstacy garage (12. 532)

We are directed—courtesy of Web Curios (lots more to explore there) to this rather incredible archived catalogue of ephemera (see also) in this collection curated by the Cornell university library of scarce hip-hop party and event fliers, spanning from circa 1977 to 1984. Not only to these handcrafted promotions document the scene with information on performers, venues, admission and dress code, this is also an amazing graphic design resource that bookends a cultural moment. The archive is approaching five hundred items with additional information regarding provenance.

✨ (12. 531)

Via Quantum of Sollazzo, we found this metaphorical reading of artificial intelligence as the parable of stone soup—with stock and produce donated by curious onlookers—to be deliciously fitting. I don’t recall being exposed to the classic fable with returning soldiers being refused quarter by the equally destitute and war-ravaged residents of a village that they pass through—rather with woodland creatures. Watching the soldiers boil rocks in a cauldron, the group realises that they have a bit to spare after all and contribute various ingredients for flavour, and invested with the main dish decide to make a proper banquet with much revelry. The technology behind AI is not a multiplying factor but only exists and returns value because of human knowledge, experience and effort. Much more at the links above including how AI tutoring and shoehorning it into educational programmes isn’t to teach young people but to reinforce its own learning—to give better-phrased over-confident answers—magical indeed.

operation rising lion (12. 530)

Amid stalled negotiations between the US and Iran aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear ambitions (attempting to work out a previous deal that lifted sanctions in exchange for regular inspections reached under the Obama administration), Israeli defence forces launched a predawn aerial attack on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and military infrastructure, the extent of the damage unclear but killing in the process several leading scientists and senior officials, including the commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s missile programme Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Despite not wanting an atomic capable Iran, America initially distanced itself from Israel’s strike—explicitly saying there was no US involvement and warned not to retaliate—Trump since weighed in, warning of more brutal punishment if they fail to concede to US terms. Meanwhile Tehran and Hezbollah are threatening retribution against Israel and its backers and air traffic in the region has been suspended and petrol prices has seen a significant jump with expectations of escalation.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus more on proxy addresses for the unhoused

seven years ago: internet tendency, a beatnik monk, monumental baobabs, legal aid for lemonade stands plus a theatrical trailer for the Trump-Kim summit

eight years ago: more links to enjoy, words as web colours plus troll cakes

nine years ago: machine-generated grimoires 

ten years ago: even more links to enjoy plus a visit to Lohr am Main