i changed, you’re not (12. 556)

Following Trump’s rather hollow and anti-climatic summit with Putin in Alaska, European leaders upend their summer schedules—including holiday-making—to rush, realising the stakes and how there are moments when history pauses and looks at us dead in the eye and asks do we know what is happening, to Washington to lend moral and materiel support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, hoping to avoid the previous melt-down in the Oval Office and stop the US administration from further undermining the continent’s security signalled by Trump’s vacillation over the peace process with a ceasefire no longer a prerequisite for negotiations and that a treaty can be struck simply by ceding Russia the Donbass, capitulating to a one-sided deal with Ukraine demilitarised and Russian subject to no further sanctions. This time, appearing in formal apparel, the same conservative reporter who questioned his usual attire of military fatigues complemented the Ukrainian president on his suit, to which Zelenskyy quipped that the journalist was wearing the same outfit as last time. Already, however, Trump is apparently rehashing tired stab-in-the-back conspiracies about a stolen election and mail-in ballot fraud, a sentiment echoed by Putin as well as citing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the biggest geopolitical betrayal of all time, on display by foreign minister Lavrov’s CCCP sweatshirt at the prior meeting.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a philosophical cartoon (with synchronoptiæ) plus amplified contagion

twelve years ago: landscaping inspirations plus freelance hotels

thirteen years ago: WWII week: Nacht und Nebel plus international traffic signs

fifteen years ago: weather control machines 

sixteen years ago: blogging non-sequitirs  

käsegruppe (12. 655)

Of course we like to have a sample of the local culinary heritage when on holiday and while the herbal liquor (Kräuterlikör, Schnapps) from the Müritz might be a unique concoction to try as well as the smoked fish—we learnt that the cheese label, which is fairly common in stores throughout Germany but not certain if we had ever tried it is not a product with a protected geographical indication but rather a style of mild cheeses marketed for its flavour profile, rather than its location—partially to distinguish it from the neighbouring Holsteiner variety that is afforded such legal status—as a German Tilsit (Tilsiter) cheese. Similar in taste and texture to Havarti, cheesemaking practises were introduced to the region of East Prussia by waves of immigration from Switzerland’s Emmental region, fleeing religious persecution and at the bidding of the kingdom’s rulers in order to repopulate Mecklenburg area after a decimating outbreak of the plague in the eighteenth century. The recipe was eventually reimported to Switzerland but the new settlers created distinct styles with the ingredients and conditions of their new home. The method and tradition was named after the dairy operation centred in the city of Tilsit in the former Borussian province, where the original buildings exist to this day—under the rule of the Teutonic Knights from the eleventh through sixteenth centuries there was already a robust cheese-making industry—with not less than seventeen towns and villages named Milchbude, milking stall, in their domain but little standardisation existed beforehand. Once Prussia was formally dissolved and the easternmost lands ceded to the Soviet Union as reparations for World War II, the territories became Kaliningrad oblast and the town on the border with Lithuania renamed Sovetsk (Сове́тск) but retains the name Тильзи́тер for the cheese, also produced in Poland, Estonia and Ukraine.

new phone, who dis (12. 654)

First reported by Norwegian news outlet Dagen Næringsliv—and possibly the rather sad and pathetic intimation was even thought fit to print at all because dictator Trump brought up the topic again during his counterproductive, slapdash meeting with Putin—the president of the United States of America cold-called Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, ostensibly to discuss trade and tariffs—as well as when he might receive his Nobel peace prize, hinting that a more favourable levy might be in play should he be bestowed with the high honour. Former NATO secretary general and current finance minister Jens Stoltenberg was also in on the conversation, confirming it took place, adding it was not the first time that Trump brought up the topic. Shopped around before the joint Russian-US summit took place as more proof of his peace-making credentials, some countries, including Israel, Armenia, Pakistan, Cambodia and Azerbaijan have submitted nominations for Trump, letting him take the credit for brokering ceasefires in exchange for more punishing tariffs for their competitors—see also. Laureates are chosen by a committee of five members appointed yesterday the parliament of Norway with the announcement of the short-list coming in October. The hits don’t stop coming so it is hard to take a moment to reflect, but one has to wonder how such shameless deportment strikes the rest of the world with Americans with such a deficit of awareness of the consequences of their words and actions and could have elected this blithered, meritless man-child twice and lack the courage for course-correction. This global trade war is blatantly extortion as well with no substance behind it.   

skid, hook and roll (12. 653)

There are certain signifiers of general human etiquette like unshodding one’s shoes at home, not littering, wearing one’s safety belts—and returning shopping carts to their corral after use, rather than leaving a exit hazard for drivers and pedestrians. Most German grocery stores have a nominal Pfand, deposit to encourage this behaviour—though a few franchises rely on the honours’ system, initiated during the pandemic and a hold-over from COVID times to enforce some extra social-distancing and as a way to easily count and control the number of shoppers inside at any one time having dispatched with the coin or token slot (usually taking just a basket personally) and requiring a cart—and one local market still has not brought back needing a coin to unlock a cart and seems to be still functioning in a civilised way. We however were not aware, until seeing this clip via MetaFilter, that there were competitive leagues of buggy bowlers—see also—or in this case the portmanteau of cart plus archery and at least for trying to best a celebrity with one’s hidden talent—going for accuracy and style in landing it back its pen from a distance.

synchronoptica

one year ago: design one’s own Amsterdam (with synchronopticæ), AI or Die, license to serve plus assorted links to revisit

twelve years ago: a visit to Frankfurt 

thirteen years ago: a trustworthy typeface plus a precarious doomsday stone

fourteen years ago: sovereign debt crises plus Earth’s ring of antimatter

 

7x7 (12. 652)

tariff tango: Canada’s claymation response to Trump’s thirty-five percent levy on exports and other affronts 

modulator-demodulator: a tribute to AOL’s decision to discontinue its dial up service and how technologies gradually fade out rather than disappear overnight  

periphrasis: the search for the perfect English infinitive   

a sunday in the park with georges: the symbolism of class and segregation on display in Seurat’s Bathers at Asnières—see previously—via Damn Interesting  

koń jaki jest, każdy widzi: the Polish language’s first encyclopaedia was an eccentric compilation that didn’t have time for the manifestly obvious 

silicon doodles: a gallery of microchip art added by engineers for fun and whimsy—see also  

comprehensive internal review: Trump orders Smithsonian museums to highlight American exceptionalism

synchronoptica

one year ago: a gallery of images that look like AI but are not (with synchronopticæ) plus the proposed state of Absaroka

twelve years ago: ligature letters 

thirteen years ago: auspicious births, WWII week: D-Day, more Wikileaks extradition manoeuvrers plus plumbing and public conveniences 

fourteen years ago: a balance siphon coffee maker 

fifteen years ago: Lutherstädte 

you know i spoke to vladimir today—we had a wonderful conversation—and she said (12. 651)

Though ending without any tangible agreements as far as promoting peace for Ukraine after only a few hours, Russian president Vladimir Putin coming out the clear winner in terms of public relations insofar as being legitimised by another faded petrostate with nuclear arms and given a ride with Trump in his armoured limousine—America infamously not party to the International Criminal Court of the Hague and can host with impunity war criminals, like Benjamin Netanyahu, without fear of acting of their warrants at large and the first meeting on US soil since the George W Bush met with Putin in 2007 in Kennybunkport Maine and said he could see in the long-term Russia leader’s soul, the US president bucked the worst fears for now by conceding not to make further concessions to the admired aggressor which might have included a land-swap not of the Crimean peninsula of the former Russian colony of Alaska or mineral and fishing rights (all seemed to be on the table). The summit held on the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson outside of Anchorage, turned out to be little more than a press-conference, with reporters unable to ask questions and Trump intimating after the fact that the responsibility had shifted to the state under siege to cede territories in order to stop the war, both Ukraine and European allies being sidelined during the entire process. Rather than making good on threats for more sanctions on Russia or countries that do business there or sabre-rattling over repositioning US nuclear submarines with “dead hand” orders for counterattack in case America was struck first, Trump afforded Russia an extra chance, airing tired old grievances about how the 2020 election was stolen from him by the campaign interference hoax (Russia, Russia, Russia—I always wonder if they say it in their heads like “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha”) which was validated by Putin’s agreement that the Ukrainian invasion only occurred under the Biden administration—untrue considering that the Crimea was occupied in 2014 and who could say what license a second Trump term would have been and we know all of the kompromat and grooming to be real and has Trump, incompetent businessman, felon and notable child-rapist, over a barrel.

happy blogoversary to us: the edge of seventeen (12. 650)

As PfRC turns seventeen years old we wanted to once again extend our gratitude to our readership and to the members of the wider blogosphere (many of those fellow caretakers are listed under our Smøgåsblog) and new ones discovered for their serendipity, sustainment and inspiration that keeps the internet curious, entertaining, engrossing and engaging. Since hitting our last milestone, here’s a round-up of some of our most popular posts with a few honourable mentions from the past year. Then it’s birthdays all the way down: 

10: Reviving the old racist names of US sports franchises

9: An assortment of premium links

 

8: A remembrance of the past year’s departed

7: Carsinisation

 6: Governance per tweet 

 

5: musical backmasking on LinkedIn

 4: Howard Hughes’ streaming service 

3. A visit to the Tauber valley 

 2: A 1954 encounter with a meteorite 

1: US presidential regnal numbers 

synchronoptica

one year ago: blogoversaries all the way down, the People’s Crusade, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, a defector to North Korea, quibbling over possessive apostrophes plus assorted links worth the revisit

thirteen years ago: WWII week: submarine warfare, the single currency and quantitative easing plus the Lost Autobahn

fourteen years ago: more rainy summer plus quelling unrest and violence

fifteen years ago: a trip to Leipzig 

seventeen years ago: a trip to the Bretagne 

seenlandschaft (12. 649)

Taking advantage of the forest’s shade for a hot, muggy day, we explored more of the trails along the shores of the Müritz—second only to Lake Constance (der Bodensee) in size and the largest body of water entirely within German borders.

The basin (Seenplatte) with several large bays and inlets kept to paths that did not extend past the tree line in order to preserve the relatively intact ecological history of Europe through the last glacial period, the Ice Age that ended about eleven thousand years ago, with primeval beech and pine woods but afforded observation platforms to look out on to the water.

The landscape that extends to Neustrelitz in the south east in made up of moraines, lowlands—including marshes and meadows—and sandur (Sander, from the Icelandic), the outwash of rocks pulverised to sand by the advance and retreat of glaciers that supports the dense forest, and contains about a hundred lesser lakes. The city of Müritz has two sizeable urban bodies of water and we walked through the spa disctrict (Kurviertel) through the Kurwald—an early realisation of the benefits of forest bathing—to take a look at the Feisneck- and Tiefwarensee.

synchronoptica

one year ago: liquid water discovered on Mars (with synchronopticæ) plus a maximal truth-seeking AI

thirteen years ago: WWII week: Pennemünde plus a chance lilly in a glass