synchronoptica
one year ago: a 1974 tour of Fort Knox (with synchronopticรฆ) plus assorted links to revisit
thirteen years ago: a ban on GMO crops in Europe, charted flights plus a superb dragonfly
fourteen years ago: faster-than-light physics
fifteen years ago: the unbearable whiteness of anti-intellectualism
Over four years after the disastrous withdrawal of US force arranged during his first term with the Taliban—timed so his successor would deal with the consequences, Trump is talks with the government of Afghanistan to retake the former Soviet airbase outside of Kabul. With one of the biggest, fortified runaways in the world and considered strategically valuable by dint of proximity to Chinese nuclear silos and test ranges. For their part, Taliban officials of the internationally isolated nation did not seem too keen on the prospect of returning Bagram to American control (despite threats from the administration) but did indicate a willingness to engage in discussions for other partnerships.
ephemeral 80s: a side project from Curios British Telly
informal collaborator: methods of surveillance and monitoring by the Iron Curtain
consumer expenditures: Bureau Labour Statistics, under pressure from the Trump administration’s push for a rosy economic outlook postponed releasing a key annual report—see previously
the vela incident: a mysterious double flash in the India ocean was detected on this day in 1979, thought to be an undeclared nuclear test
just look where you’re walking or you’ll get ko’d by the gauntlet of misshapened zucchini-descendant bastards swinging from above: it’s that time again—see previously
estแดฐ: an archive of derelict shopfronts from the 1970s and 1980s of East London
disgruntled nomenclature: a list of American college presidents—drawn from a 1973 yearbook of higher education—are particularly interchangeable and revealing of patriarchical power structures
upstairs, downstairs: seven decades of ITV on the anniversary of its founding, breaking the BBC broadcast monopoly
synchronoptica
one year ago: Bilbo Baggins’ birthday (with synchronopticรฆ), St Mauritius, first contact plus a presidential assassination attempt (1975)
twelve years ago: Singapore’s Super Trees, bad real estate photographs plus untamed houseplants
thirteen years ago: promoting women executives
fourteen years ago: safe overtaking plus the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
fifteen years ago: a classic iPad sleeve
sixteen years ago: our little travel blog
seventeen years ago: de-logistics
On this day in 2004, Green Day released their seventh studio album—their first in four years—American Idiot, an overtly political and socially critical record, the tracks, especially the title one, expresses the disillusionment and decent of a generation whose prospects were informed by 9/11 and the resulting forever wars. 
A telling of the gospel of Jesus of Suburbia, a precarious working-class anti-hero figure, the suite of songs were put together as a concept album for a punk rock opera, taking inspiration from Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Charting worldwide, it was also against the media apparatus, which in the band’s view had crossed from journalism to sensationalism and reality TV, glorified violence of combat in Iraq intercut with advertisements. An enduring protest song, lyrics have been subtly updated from redneck to “I’m not a part of the [MAGA/ELON] agenda” and “subliminal mind-Trump America.” Wake me up when September ends.
the dominator model continues to run the world: Lydia Lunch’s timeless feminist manifesto
jut: a new way to measure the magnitude and magnificence of mountains—via Metafilter
and i’m floating in the most peculiar way: a cover of Major Tom by Magdalena Bay—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links
bequest: an assortment of old customs and curious donations and charities
red noise: the French musical underground’s decade of synths and situationists—via { feuilleton }
๐พ: writing lessons in Cuneiform
being of sound minds and body: collection of captivating wills and last testaments—via Strange Company
you’ve really made the grade: a scroll through the archives of David Bowie
pathfinder: a look into the inner-workings of Google Maps
me and bobbie mckee: the forgotten inspiration for the gender-swapping ballad of Kris Kristofferson and Janis Joplin—see previously
synchronoptica
one year ago: Weird Al parodies Bob Dylan with palindromes (with synchronopticรฆ) plus more gerrymandering
twelve years ago: a possible clue to hidden Nazi loot hidden on sheet music
fourteen years ago: the Pope comes home to Germany
fifteen years ago: GMO salmon
Interested in the ways brains process visual information and the influence of context and frame of reference, psychologist Jules Beuchet first described his eponymous chair illusion in the mid twentieth century, and while popular for museum installations and retaining the effect in photographs unlike some others (see also here and here), we learn that the compelling dissonance, accidentally exemplified by this image of the giant Bidens with the tiny Carters without set up—courtesy of Futility Closet—we discover a new, more portable technique for disabusing this trick, staged easier with a tripod, a miniature frame and piece of upholstery, requiring much less space and focal length to achieve the result.
Very much enjoying these tales of recycled props and sets (see previously here and here), we were thrilled that not only did the author get to see his namesake disaster flick on the big screen for the first time, that cinematic experience allowed him pinpoint the provenance of elements of the decor. 
The golden panels that clad the walls of the cruise ship’s mess were repurposed from Cleopatra, and feature Egyptians and hieroglyphics although the boat is named the SS Poseidon after the Greek sea god for a bit of mixed mythology. The skylight “ceiling” of the ballroom is also the backdrop of the Harmonia Gardens number featured in Hello Dolly!—both the Taylor and Streisand films being a huge expense for the studios, it made sense to do some double-dipping. Much more from Poseidon’s Underworld at the link above.
