recourse to the method (13. 030)

Though upon reflection both family members and insurgents conclude it would have been better had the ruling couple been executed by revolutionary forces when they attempted to flee Bucharest three days earlier rather than suffer the additional indignity of a drumhead court-martial and show trial, those that called to order the extraordinary military tribunal on this day in 1989 at Târgoviște to try Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu deemed the proceedings necessary to legitimise the coup and rule out the possibility a resurgence by their sympathisers. Not at liberty to pick their own legal defence, the appointed lawyers eventually siding with the prosecution before judgment and sentencing that took only about and hour with the verdict a foregone conclusion, the deposed general secretary of the Communist party of Romania and his wife maintained their innocence and that the Romanian Revolution was a Soviet plot against them and called the trial unconstitutional. The Ceaușescus were charged with genocide with over sixty-thousand victims (unclear due to the summary nature and without prior formal investigation or discovery, if the crime was levied for his twenty-four year reign or for suppressing the recent uprising), using the military to subvert the power of the state and people, destruction of public property, self-enrichment and undermining the national economy and attempting to escape justice by trying to flee the country—with over a billion dollars held in foreign bank accounts. Arguing that only the National Assembly could remove him from power, the dictatorship came to an end when the couple were brought before a firing squad, Ceaușescu reportedly humming a few bars from the Internationale as he was gunned down. Whilst not conducted in a public forum, the entire trial and execution was filmed, though camera crews weren’t quick enough to capture the shooting—footage and images were circulated in the press two days later.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the murder of Kitty Genovese (with synchronopticæ), a walk to the tripoint of three German states plus the president-elect’s overtures for the Panama Canal

three years ago: the first Nativity scene

four years ago: a white Christmas, the launch of the JWST, Gorbachev resigns (1991) plus the shorthand of Charles Dickens

five years ago: a Christmas greeting, The Stone Tape Theory plus artist Desireless 

six years ago: a celestial season’s greetings, Unword of the Year, AI carols plus more yule-log

seven years ago: more seasonal salutations, even more yule-log plus Martian rovers

one unidentified sleigh powered by eight reindeer (13. 029)

Although the US Air Force had issued a communiqué on Christmas Eve in 1948 that their emerging early warning radar net to the north had detected the above interloper, the former festive report was a one-off event and it was not until this day 1955 that the North American Aerospace Defence Command launched its annual NORAD Santa Tracker, as our faithful chronicler informs, an annual tradition since spawning many homages, in response to a newspaper advertisement with a misprint. A Sears department store affiliate in Colorado Springs invited children to call Kris Kringle with their wishes but ME 2-6681 directed them actually towards the switchboard of the Continental Air Defence Command Centre, a call reaching a commanding colonel, whom after speaking to the little girl’s mother, assessed the situation and directed operators relay the current location for Santa’s sleigh, and recognising the public relations opportunity pledge to continue to monitor and if necessary defend this “undoubtably friendly” against possible attack from those who do not believe in the spirit of Christmas, a hotline crewed by volunteers to keep the commanders’ red-phone free.

✨pausing for station identification✨ (13. 028)

We here at PfRC wish you and yours all good things and the biggest, brightest little Christmas yet. Take care of one another, and we look forward to seeing you all again real soon after a brief break. Happy holidays!

9x9 (13. 027)

pot to kettle: US bans Europeans who encouraged social media to suppress American points of view—see also, whilst the Heritage Foundation openly calls for the dissolution of the European Union  

sight unseen: a collection of the best video essays of 2025  

winter tarotscope: a collective reading for the coming season from AX Mina  

first and main: store front churches as captured by Rob Stephenson—via Messy Nessy Chic with a lot more to explore including more on glass models of deep sea creatures  

x-mas post: holiday greeting cards to Paul Rand (previously) from other designers, artists and architects  

commodorchestra: Linus Åkesson (previously) performs an ambitious chip-tune arrangement of Boléro (see also) on an assortment of homemade eight-bit instruments 

exhibit a: a simple copy-and-paste undoes redactions to some of the Epstein files  

the address is cbs: the censored reporting on the infamous CECOT prison removed from 60 Minutes was bootlegged by international broadcasts—via Super Punch

synchronoptica

one year ago: the first wholly electronic television transmission (with synchronopticæ), the Bohemian John Phillips Souza plus a Christmas pause 

fourteen years ago: a Star Wars Nativity scene 

fifteen years ago: Christmas Eve greetings 

sixteen years ago: zodiacal mugs 

seventeen years ago: miscellany from Wikipedia 

troppo paradiso nelle loro menti (13. 026)

Via Laughing Squid, we are introduced to the musical stylings of the talented Italian guitar quartet 40 Fingers with this moody, acoustic rendition of the overture from Jesus Christ Superstar, the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rock opera—with an absolutely brilliant arrangement (see previously—Silent Night was originally a guitar piece as well). The band’s biggest viral moment yet was a cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and have taken a particular interest in film scores.

ho ho hustle (13. 025)

We quite enjoyed this McSweeney’s piece by contributors Anne Marie Wonder and Madeleine Trebenski imagining the ensemble of characters of secular Christmas celebrations taking on a side-gigs to make ends meet in this economy. Missus Claus is a trad-wife influencer and Heatmiser has monetised his podcast, hawking testosterone supplements between segments advocating how real men don’t ask permission to commit arson, and you know Dasher—or rather DoorDasher, of course.

synchronoptica

one year ago: fifty plus years of Kraftwerk’s Autobahn (with synchronopticæ) plus the etymology of fruitcake

seven years ago: the patron saint of Iceland, a glitter mystery plus the Extinction Rebellion

eight years ago: Project Blue Book plus motto misappropriation

nine years ago: walled-gardens 

ten years ago: international holiday customs, a Christmas ghost story, an embarrassing product recall plus a yuletide greeting

eleven years ago: Ship of Theseus 

thirteen years ago: mapping South Sudan, US austerity plus winter flooding

sixteen years ago: winter driving 

9x9 (13. 024)

participation, in this context, is a kind of alignment: the Vanity Fair photo shoot of Trump’s cabinet 

escape velocity: a super-massive runaway black hole has been ejected from its home galaxy and is careening through space—via Kottke 

that thoth over there: a guide to the messy divine family of Egyptian mythology  

beyond the last-minute gift guide: the year of Tedium wrapped  

no-one comes to casablanca for the waters—you were misinformed: every drink in the 1942 classic (see previously, oddly no gin)—via MetaFilter  

capital allocation: on the social uselessness of finance, creating winners and losers  

homecoming: a preview of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey—see also 

intraterrestrials: subsurface microbes have geological lifespans 

unreliable narrator: Epstein and company as Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert—see previously

all in the family (13. 023)

Anticipated by audiences nearly as much as “Lucy is Enceinte” and the introduction of Little Ricky in 1953 (CBS network censors at the time didn’t allow “expecting” or “pregnant”), as our faithful chronicler reminds, on this day in 1975, Archie Bunker’s Little Girl Gloria (Sally Struthers) gave birth to the son of Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner) Joseph “Joey” Michael with the conclusion of a two-part episode entitled “The Baby”—like with the Ricardos, the second part being “Lucy Goes to the Hospital.” Portrayed by several different actors (initially by twins), Joey was a regular part of the cast until Struthers and Reiner left the show in 1978 when it went into syndication, but the character was reprised for some of All in the Family’s numerous spin-offs—Maude, The Jeffersons, Checking In—appearing in the short-lived Gloria, Archie Bunker’s Place and 704 Hauser, the fictional address in Queens occupied by a different family two decades on. In 1976, the Ideal Toy Company released a doll of Baby Stivic—“Archie Bunker’s Grandson”—billed as the first anatomically correct male doll (inspired by the rather frank portrayal of the televised birth), stirring mild controversy at the time but since considered a collectors’ item, but no where close to the merchandising and appearances made by Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the CIA’s operation CHAOS (with synchronopticæ) plus assort links worth revisiting 

twelve years ago: a drone identification guide plus formulaic correspondence

thirteen years ago: slow pace at work, bleak near-futures plus carol trivia

fourteen years ago: US carriers take exception with EU flight emissions standards plus the wild hunt

fifteen years ago: Santa’s naught list has Wikileaks, Germany’s Word of the Year plus 2010 in review

sixteen years ago: 2009 superlatives