8x8 (12. 601)

field office: Trump withdraws the US from UNESCO for a second time 

vidi, quod aperuisset agnus: the Four Horsemen in art  

shoulder-top secretary: indirect communication, etiquette filters and letting the parrot speak for one  

symphonies of glass and steel: a century on, the spirit of Art Deco has shifted from enlightenment to oppression through the lens of a new property listing  

interlockers: chunky sandals that mimic zig-zag paver blocks 

game genie: a 1990 video game cheat cartridge for the Nintendo Entertainment System and its landmark legacy establishing reverse-engineering (see also) as fair-use and in-play premiums

velvet sundown: responding to the public backlash of AI slop on the internet, some companies are deplatforming or at least threatening to demonetise such tedious content crowding out everything else  

anamorphic sculpture: Thomas Medicus’ 2014 Emulsifier—the term, in the main, refers to the cinematography technique for translating the widescreen to narrower native aspect ratios 

national governing body: US Olympic Committee bars trans individuals from the teams in order to conform with Trump’s directives about protecting women on the anniversary of the 2001 found of the American Paralympics

henohenomoheji (12. 600)

Convinced that this subject was one that we had visited before for its relation to emoticons, emoji and ASCII art and surprised to find that we had not, we enjoyed this short introduction to the generic human face made up of hiragana letter forms, seven characters (arranged to spell out the title へのへのもへじ). Originally the doodle was a classroom exercise for school children of the late Edo era, following the turn of the century reform that reduced the syllabary down to forty eight characters from hundreds as a sort of mnemonic device for reenforcing valid glyphs out of the many retired ones, the characters traditionally sung as they were written. The nose, jaw and left cheek would be pronounced moji (文字 in katana) as in the above “picture writing.”

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronopticæ),  the Commodore A1000, dark oxygen, everything is context plus attempts to keep Trump off the ballot and Biden on it

it’s trumpensteen (12. 599)

The Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives abruptly adjourned the legislature ahead of summer recess in order to block a floor-vote demanding the public release of the Epstein files. Scheduled as well for votes on unrelated issues needing immediate attention, congress choose to close shop rather than work through the bipartisan matter, the Mike Johnson dismissed members of the Rules Committee early, only to reconvene in September, accusing Democrats of using the controversy as a political battering ram despite many of the cultists breaking with doctrine. This development comes amid Trump (worthy of the portmanteau, it recalls this first meeting between Igor—Eye-Gore—when Dr Frankenstein corrects his pronunciation) is deflecting by intimating he will direct the Department of Justice to arrest Obama and his cadre for perpetuating a treasonous conspiracy, a Hillary Clinton probe on treason, allowing his attorney general to meet with Epstein’s enabler and personal assistant, the imminently pardonable Ghislaine Maxwell, declassifying FBI files on Dr Rev Martin Luther King, Jr and that “credible evidence” should be disclosed. “Well they were wrong then, weren’t they?”

the stars at night are big and bright (12. 598)

Just ahead of the August fortieth anniversary of the release of the movie, the Alamo has acquired the iconic, custom Schwinn DX Cruiser that appeared on screen in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Directed by Tim Burton (his first time in that role), scored by Danny Elfman (their first collaboration) and cowritten by Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman, Herman travels cross country in search of his stolen bicycle—a plot comparable to the 1948 Ladri di biciclette, hitchhiking to Texas after being told by a fake psychic that his beloved bike is in the basement of the San Antonio mission. The film prop will go on display in the visitors’ centre and museum of the Alamo, in the sublevel that famously did not exist at the time of the shooting, a space below the gift shop also used as a reception hall.  This accession was undertaken by a private trust that maintains the monument’s collections, an acquisition unrelated to Texas’ attempted gallery heist of the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian.

synchronoptica

one year ago: enduring lessons of technology (with synchronopticæ) plus a thistle cousin

[guitar solo] (12. 597)

Released on this day in 1987, the debut studio album by Guns N’ Roses remains one of the best-selling hard rock records of all time but garnered little mainstream attention until the band began touring and increased airplay a year on with commercial success. Most tracks on the album and other’s in their repertoire were created while touring on the Los Angeles club circuit. The original cover art based on a painting by Robert Williams (who produced Zap Comics along with other underground cartoonists like Robert Crumb) was regarded as too controversial by retail outlets, which prompted Geffen records to compromise by moving that image to the liner-notes, substituting the more familiar Celtic cross version with five skulls representing the band members, inspired by a tattoo design. Rather than the traditional A- and B-sides, the obverse songs were labelled G—Guns and dealt with themes of drugs, violence and struggles of city life—and the reverse R—Roses covering love, sex and relationships.

our great indian people, in massive numbers, want to have this (12.596)

Although unclear how the US president could interfere with the multi-billion dollar development project already allocated by the Washington, DC city council and signed into law, Trump is threatening to derail the planned new stadium under construction for the National Football League franchise, the Washington Commanders, unless the team brought back their old name, finally changed from the Redskins in 2022 after decades of controversy and criticism. Playing at a venue located in Maryland while the their ageing home RFK arena in the capital underwent renovations, the team was originally founded in Massachusetts in 1932 as the Boston Braves—again not in deference to actual indigenous people but to the disguises that American separatists wore during the Tea Party and thus even more demeaning, moving to Washington the following year. It is unclear whether the funding approval was tied to the name update. Trump further argues that the Major League Baseball franchise the Cleveland Guardians should also revert back to their old identity.

synchronoptica

one year ago: an entrepôt on the Seine (with synchronopticæ), assorted links worth revisiting, more from Marshall McLuhan plus Joe Biden steps down as the Democratic presidential nominee

pier giorgio, guide my fist (12. 595)

An avid mountaineer, hence his motto “Verso l’alto”—toward the top—and social justice activist and leading member of several charitable organisations in his native Turin, Pier Giorgio Frassati, who as a student helped found an newspaper calling for reform and equity inspired by the papal bull of Leo XIII, Rerum novarum, will be canonised in September after long delays in his cause along with the Blessed Carlo Acutis. One detail omitted about Frassati not mentioned in the press-releases and official hagiography, we learn however via MetaFilter, who the peace-loving individual was no fan of the Mussolini regime and describes (with pious humility) more than one encounter dirty fascists (porci fascisti) and was not above throwing punches to defend his family, the marginalised and the Church from intimidation.

8x8 (12. 594)

; ): the correct use of the semicolon—see also  

if you try to humanise the place, you will lose your mind: a journalist reflects on her unconscionable trip to Dubai  

dream logic: the surreal illustrations of Garrett Davis  

bubble house: space age, Mid-Century Modern brownstone off Central Park on the market for the first time in half a century—see also  

the sounds of summer: the soundtrack of nostalgic memories of the season by prolific composer Joe Hisaishi (久石 譲) reimagined as a short visual film  

jumbotron: Coldplay concert kiss-cam incident (and memes) underscore the practice’s awkward history  

kiss of death: US vice president flew to Montana for a secret meeting with News Corp head Rupert Murdoch, aged 94, to discuss reporting of Trump—maybe he dies soon like when Vance had an audience with the Pope—or fawning MAGA fan Truss with the Queen  

the only free cheese is in a mousetrap: the Ukrainian equivalent of the English idiom there is no such thing as a free lunch