america’s first news source (12. 000)

Actually not an article from The Onion—the satirical news outlet, we learn via Ernie Smith from Tedium, has bought the domain of Alex Jones’ Infowars during a bankruptcy auction with plans to relaunch it as a parody of itself to lampoon internet personalities starved for attention who peddle in misinformation, conspiracy theories and snakeoil. The sale (with sponsorship from a major gun safety advocacy group) was sanctioned by families of the victims of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, whom won a billion dollar defamation suit against Jones for spreading the revolting lie that the tragic event (which keeps happening as per the evergreen headline of the publication, ‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens) was staged as ploy for the US government to strip Americans of their vaunted second amendment rights.

title drop (11. 999)

Via the very data-driven Quantum of Sollazo, we directed towards a rather meta, fourth-wall breaking meta-analysis by Dominikus Baur and Alice Thudt surveying the past eight decades of cinema to tease out all the instances of when a character says the name of the movie they’re in—ranging from the inspired to self-aware to the bit cringy. The large scale examination, going beyond the anecdotal and obvious examples promoted in listicles and the like, reveals trends, auteurship and a real figure of about a third of film across all genres make direct mention of their title and possible motives for inclusion.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: consciousness and the breakdown of the bicameral mind plus a vineyard in New Zealand

eight years ago: a visit to Amsterdam, safety-pin solidarity plus a visit to Wewelsburg

nine years ago: the philosophy of Peanuts, planet Vulcan plus speaking Dinglisch

ten years ago: more on the spread of Indo-European languages

 

trial balloon (11. 998)

In a possible provocative test of the loyalties of the incoming senate, Trump has nominated Florida congressman Matt Gaetz (see previously here and here) to be the Attorney General under his new administration, the first pick announced out of a clutch of named individuals that include an inexperienced Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and a Fox News host for Secretary of Defence that requires confirmation by the upper chamber. The disbelief was intensified as Gaetz tendered his resignation to the Speaker of the House (see above) immediately, vacating his seat in congress at a time when the future composition of the lower chamber is yet unclear (see also above), whereas most would wait until after the official job offer to do so. Possibly seen as a countermeasure to “judicial over-reach” and “weaponising the department,” America’s next top lawyer, if approved, was under investigation and collegiate censure last year over alleged sex-trafficking offences and drug use.

9x9 (11. 997)

dr tj eckleburg: how The Great Gatsby influenced Robert Moses and transformed New York City  

tether: although the material technology is not quite there for a terrestrial one, a lunar space elevator might be feasible  

ssccatagapp: Russia moves to ban all content deemed to promote a childless-lifestyle—via tmn  

cleromancy: spiritual taverns that combine tarot and I Ching with cocktails are seeing growing popularity in China 

jeu de puce: fleas, chips and other observations on the 9ᵉ édition du Dictionnaire de l’Académie française just published 

talking head: Pentagon and US allies in shock over Trump’s intent to nominate a Fox News commentator as secretary of defence 

sobriquet: the twenty-eight European cities claiming to be Venice of the North—see also—via Messy Nessy Chic 

collectives: a series of aerial photographs of junkyards and graveyards neatly organised by Cássio Campos Vasconcellos—via Things Magazine  

a remembrance of things past: Proust and The Breakfast Club

synchronoptica

one year ago: a medieval large language model (with synchronoptica),  a new family of goblin spiders, a novel way to hack light pollution plus block printing personal narratives

seven years ago: tariffs on Chinese aluminium, revolutionary terrariums plus using AI to minimise road-kill, disruption to migration

eight years ago: RIP Leonard Cohen

nine years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus emoji syntax across different platforms

ten years ago: more on the spread of Indo-European languages

backsplash, splashback (11. 996)

Having previously explored the influence of architect and resistance-fighter through her Frankfurt model kitchen that has become the standard design for the Western world, we were pleased to learn that personal domestic space of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzsky has been carefully conserved and made accessible to the public in her Vienna apartment. The modern, fitted standard with harmonised features now taken for granted, like broad counter surfaces, tiled Spritzschutz which are reversed for British and American English and plenty of recessed storage room was first introduced in 1926 and the restored 1970s version in her former home. Despite of the impact of her installation, Schütte-Lihotzsky, who never was a homemaker nor cook prior and relied on interviews, was understandably resentful for only being remembered for this singular innovation at the expense of social aspect of architecture and urban-planning.

pont y borth (11. 995)

A temporary export bar has been placed on a 1827 needlework sampler made by Mary Anne Hughes, aged eleven, to prevent the national treasure (“rare, modest and of enduring interest”) from leaving the UK by giving institutions (see previously) the chance to raise funds for its purchase ahead of auction. The image depicts the Menai Bridge, opened to the public just the year before after seven years of construction, Designed by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford as the first suspension span of this scale and carries road traffic to this day, the bridge connects Anglesey to the Welsh mainland, bypassing a treacherous water route (particularly for fording livestock) through the Menai Strait. More from The History Blog at the link above.

the holy or the broken (11. 994)

Via our faithful chronicler, we are reminded how on this day in 2016, on the first episode of the show

following the US presidential election, Kate McKinnon, appearing in character as Hillary Clinton in their signature white pants suit, performed the cold open for Saturday Night Live singing a sombre and poignant rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (a moving anthem that famously the artist took five years to finish and had upwards of one hundred eighty draft verses, which cycled in and out of live shows, demonstrating that good things take time), as tribute both to her alter-ego for losing to Trump and the death of Cohen himself, which had occurred in the preceding days as well. “I’m not giving up and neither should you.”

synchronoptica

one year ago: Connections (with synchronoptica) plus Remembrance Sunday

seven years ago: a German true crime mystery that’s partially never been solved 

nine years ago: gasholders plus a photography clearing house

ten years ago: taxi cab confessions plus Roman Mainz

eleven years ago: some nimble and sure-footed goats 

ny-21 (11. 993)

With control of the House of Congress yet to be called, and removing the New York representative from the legislative body (as one cannot work for two branches of government at the same time) narrows the Republicans’ narrow control further, Trump announces one of his first cabinet picks (amid a lot of speculation) as Elise Stefanik in the role of US ambassador to the United Nations (a position formerly held by Nikki Haley). Though with little foreign policy experience and given her spot on congressional committees after the GOP stripped Liz Cheney of her membership for being critical of Trump, Ms Stefanik has been a vocal supporter of the administration (if inconsistent but ultimately blamed Nancy Pelosi for the January Sixth Capitol Attack) and Israel and played a high-profile part in hearings that led to the resignations of several American university presidents for their stance on campus protests and unrest in support of the Palestinian people.