table manners (13. 285)

Though admittedly sometimes we practise with the wooden, break-apart pair included with store-bought sushi that includes a brief guide, like those napkins that one used to find in Greek and Italian restaurants that included a vocabulary lesson for native pleasantries to exchange with the waitstaff (one doesn’t find them so often any more), we knew we were doing it wrong and would never assay such behaviour during an authentic meal unless by limited utensils and were not prepared this extensive list, courtesy of MetaFilter, of breaches of etiquette that one can commit with chopsticks (箸, はし in Kana and pronounced as hashi). Dating back to antiquity with their first archeological evidence as cooking implements, the use of chopsticks spread with Confucian philosophy as civilised and refined with the modern aphorism that whereas knives are for the slaughterhouse and battle, chopsticks are for scholars—so called grand chopsticks (料理箸, ryōribashi) used for preparation rather than eating are longer and also measure temperature as a property of bamboo by their sounds or silence during frying. Whilst not intended as prescriptive or shame-inducing but rather as cultivating eating as an art and act of reverence, there are orders of precedence, using the serving implements, not double-dipping and many others, including the pictured transgression called ogamibashi (拝み箸), it being considered rude to hold one’s chopsticks during the expression of thanks (itadakimasu, いただきます) for what one is about to receive, the equivalent (though more nuanced as a recognition of humility rather than hierarchy and that one’s needs have a larger meaning) of having one’s knife and fork at the ready during grace.

day twenty-three (13. 284)

As Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic to non-enemy ships, Trump faces duelling deadlines with two ultimatums delivered Saturday: one either Iran allow all cargo through the vital waterway or face destruction of all domestic energy infrastructure; and two, political but very much related, to congress, either pass voting reforms that would federalise elections or ICE agents will be deployed in US airports. Rather than being cowed into submissions, both opposition parties seem to be taking the longer view, Trump the sole owner of this chaos and its consequences. Despite a near total internet blackout for Iran with start of the war, a carry over from government protests, Tehran seems to be able to strike back on that front as well. The remaining peace-keepers from the NATO mission to Iraq have been evacuated to western Europe.  Israel, Iran and Hezbollah continue to exchange missile strikes, with the UN calling for restraint following bombardment of nuclear facilities and demolition has begun on neighbours near the Israeli border with Lebanon. The US administration roll back more sanctions on Russian petroleum to ease supply pressure.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Sylvanian Families (with synchronopticæ), returning to the Moon facing delays over DEI and DOGE plus a pioneering simulcast

twelve years ago: encrypting one’s DNA, fairs of East Germany plus bio-tech harvests

thirteen years ago: the Cypriot financial crisis 

fifteen years ago: World Water Day

sixteen years ago: reading movies 

saxomophone (13. 283)

Awarded a patent on this day in 1846 for his most well-known but not most successful and certainly not his only eponymous instrument, Adolphe Sax was already a respected faculty member of the Paris Conservatory. The eldest son of a husband and wife team of brass and woodwind specialists in Dinant (present day Belgium) and amazingly surviving a notoriously accident prone childhood—recovering unscathed from a fall of three storeys, swallowing a pin, mistakenly drinking an acidic solvent somehow not dying of asphyxiation from sleeping in a room nightly that doubled as a storage space for drying varnished instruments—the prolific tinkerer’s most widely adopted improvement was for valve controls for the bugle, which he tried unsuccessful secure rights on as the Saxhorn, which led to the development of the euphonium and flugelhorn, adaptations particularly useful outside of the concert hall for marching bands. Later during the Crimean Conflict, Sax also patented two inventions for the war effort in support France and her allies, though never field-tested, in the Saxotonnerre–an organ powered by a locomotive engine loud enough in theory to be heard across an area the size of Paris and in response to the stalemate during the Siege of Sevastopol, the Saxocannon capable of launching half-tonne rounds with the aim of curtailing protracted standoffs. Sadly the upkeep of intellectual property and fighting infringement by challengers and rivals in later life took a huge toll on Sax‘ finances and health.

katzenkopf iii (13. 281)

Taking advantage of the nice weather, H and I got the camper from storage and prepared for the season with a weekend trip back to the Frankish wine islands, staying in the village of Sommerach. The vineyards waking up too for the spring, we took a long hike crossing the island and over the canal of the Main river through fields and pine forest in protected environment known as the Sandfluren (inland dunes, the sandy areas reminding me of trekking from Wiesbaden to Mainz under the bridges and over the islands) outside of Volkach on the mainland. 

Reaching the village of Dimbach, we headed back to the island over the lock and weir at the southern part of the river loop at the Mainkanal. In the distance, we could spy the twin steeples of the cloister Münsterschwarzach with a cruise ship docked at the weir. Exploring more of the landscape on the way back, we walked around the village a bit, trying out that wine automat we saw on our last visit—it wasn’t dumped out like a soda machine but rather a mechanical arm guided our selection down to the flap—and had a late lunch before going back to the camp grounds.

More details about the history of these places and impressions at the links above.

day twenty-two

Very much on brand with garbage modus operandii, Trump announces that he is considering ”winding down“ war with Iran after having destroyed world order, despoiling the climate further and severely disrupted the global economy, having accomplished nothing positive. One good that may come out of all this, aside from the realignment eschewing American dominance and trust may be that the international community is finally pushed away from petroleum once and for all and embraces in earnest green energy.

The US administration signls drawdown as more troops and battleships head to the Middle East, possibly in support of a publicised bit of war-gaming to capture and occupy Iran’s Kharg Island and/or undertake an even more daunting task of confiscating Iran‘s remaining stocks of enriched uranium. Regardless of what America does, Iran does not seemed poised to let go of its greatest bit of leverage--even more important than the vital water route--in simply refusing to surrender as it continues to target US outposts, host nations and collaborators, firing missiles as far away as Diego Garcia and threatening terror attacks on tourist destinations worldwide.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the physics of pasta (with synchronopticæ), Musk to brief Pentagon on China, assorted links worth revisiting, tv feeds from all over the world plus a supposed secret offer for the US to join the Commonwealth

twelve years ago: the West threatens to sanction Russian oil 

thirteen years ago: off-world prospecting 

fourteen years ago: radio silence plus no pie for you

5x5 (13. 280)

north oaks: mapping the wealthy Minnesota exclave that has remained virtually unmapped due to the way the municipality defines easement and public property

wikicity: the free encyclopaedia visualised as a three-dimensional metropolis of connected apartments to explore its densest articles—via Web Curios  

 

the way of the warrior: legendary action movie star Chuck Norris passes away unexpectedly, aged 86  

centuripe: viewed from above, this Sicilian village looks like a human figure  

border jumper: this cat does not care about your international boundaries

day twenty-one (13. 279)

As Tehran marks the celebration of Nowruz (previously), the Persian New Year, Israel continues airstrikes on the capital, Netanyahu speaking earlier to allay claims that he pressured the US to drop negotiations and enter into the fight, whilst suggesting that a ground component may be necessary to finish what they’ve started, “You cannot make a revolution from the air.” Also earlier, Hegseth spoke to the press pool, delivering a SITREP on the progress of the war, characterised as going swimming and ahead of schedule although still not offering much in the way of planning or objectives, meanwhile Trump hosted the Japanese prime minister in the Oval Office, one of the Asian countries he implored for military aid to secure the Strait of Hormuz. For her part, Takaichi explained to Trump that Japan’s ability for intervention and military deployment outside of its borders was curtailed constitutionally by the laws drafted for the country by the American occupying forces after World War II, maintaining her composure and playing to Trump’s interests even after a rather breathtakingly awkward political gaffe (see also) by the president, when asked by a Japanese reporter why the US attacked Iran without forewarning to its allies, joking about the importance of the element of surprise, something Japan ought to know about considering Pearl Harbour. Afterwards a gala dinner was held with guests including tech executives, cabinet members and donors like Miriam Adelson whose late husband advocated for nuclear strikes on Iran for the unveiling of a commemorative gold coin bearing Trump’s image to be minted for America’s upcoming two-hundred fiftieth birthday, approved by the US Commission of Fine Arts.

synchronoptica

one year ago: travel advisories for the US (with synchronopticæ), relative time, seismic activity in real time plus US suggest takeover of Ukrainian nuclear power plants

twelve years ago: an epic Finnish name generator 

thirteen years ago: digital restrictions management 

fourteen years ago: greenwashing, reunited Germany’s solidarity pact tariff plus tech platform comebacks 

fifteen years ago: patrolling Libya’s no-fly zone 

sixteen years ago: seasonal affective disorders 

gort-appointed attorney (13. 278)

Despite numerous mistrials resulting from artificial intelligence in the courtroom, we learn—courtesy of Super Punch—that Los Angeles county, the largest civil justice system in the US is running a pilot programme that allows judges to use an AI tool, called Learned Hand, to draft legal opines and tentative rulings, informed by precedent and the individual jurist’s own narrative voice. Requiring that output be vetted and human-jured before before issuing a verdict, the project, meant to ease the administrative case-load, is expected to erode public trust in the courts and run the risk of predisposing judgment before thorough research, influencing the disposition. The makers of the bespoke large language model touts that it is already being used by a few other jurisdictions and has extensive guardrails to prevent hallucinations and inventing precedent, related cases cited with hyperlinks in a fact-checking protocol referred to as Deep Verify. There is presently no requirement for disclosure for rulings adjudicated at with the help of AI.