telegraphed intent (13. 152)

Following on the heels of memoryholing the CIA World Factbook and aligned with the revisionist history (altering the narratives for the January Sixth storming of the Capitol and the COVID-19 pandemic) and erasure of the administration, the US State Department is removing all social media postings made the on the platform formerly known as Twitter prior to Trump’s return to office at the end of January last year. Taken down from public view, the foreign ministry assures that travel advisories, programmes, press releases and images (from department leadership as well as individual missions and the accounts of ambassadors) will be archived internally and can be accessed through a FOIA request should anyone be demotivated to see what’s aged well and what has not—messaging from Trump’s first term included as well as posts from the Obama and Biden years. Less ideological and more for controlling the message moving forward, systematically eliminating and forging the inconvenient historical documents to match state propaganda, according to reporting, it’s as of yet unclear whether this daily record of diplomacy will disappear from other platforms as well. More from NPR at the link above.

the dark side (13. 151)

Unsure if this is clickbait or ragebait, but it is undoubtedly—courtesy of Miss Cellania—the most triggering take on Star Wars imaginable, now lodging in your head rent free as well. Asking with seeming earnestness, “How did [Darth] Vader survive his encounter with Luke [Skywalker] on Dagobah,” followed with some non-canon ideas to fill in this apparent (for the questioner) plot-hole, the post, what ever curiosity or maliciousness was behind it, speaks to the Dead Internet theory, driven solely by engagement and not communication, invention or exchange, and stealing away a fleeting second of one’s attention by hook or by crook with disposable reactions to throwaway stimuli.

crimewatch (13. 150)

Via Curios, we are referred to this fun little character creation game that draws of the assets of the 1983 Smith & Wesson (American gun-makers so make that what you will for their role in the field of forensics) Identi-Kit Model II used by law enforcement authorities since the late 1950s (the UK version, Photofit, was introduced in 1970) to make facial composites of suspects and perpetrators in attempts to reconstruct their appearance and identity them based on eye-witness accounts. This feature-based selection system, foregoing the talent of a professional sketch artist in consultation with victims and by-standers, became standard issue in many precincts and has a certain, sinister aesthetic if one is so inclined to build an mugshot quality avatar (without involving the machine and one’s own likeness and being an agent of chaos and confounding the AIs) in the style of DB Cooper, the Unabomber or other most-wanted individuals.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a gift from Netanyahu for Trump (with synchronopticæ), a calming reflecting pool plus a banger by Shocking Blue

twelve years ago: trilateral tensions with the US, the EU and Ukraine 

fourteen years ago: scribes and penmanship plus diminishing returns

fifteen years ago: Mubarak flees to Germany 

does she walk, does she talk, does she come complete (13. 149)

The lead single from their tenth studio album Freeze Frame (with the b-side Rage in the Cage) climbed to the top of the charts of the US Billboard Hot 100 on this day in 1982, holding the spot for six weeks, the record also reaching number one at the same time with parallel success in Canadian and Australian markets. Though arising a few years late, “Centerfold” for its hook and chorus is counted among the album-oriented radio hits, a play format that embraces the full-repertoire of a group and exploring deep-cuts, originating out of a 1964 US Federal Communications Commission regulation prohibiting simulcasts for stations’ AM and FM broadcast bands and programming pivoting to exploration to balance out regular rotation of the latest most popular songs, giving rise to speciality call-signs and defining the genre of classic rock. Narratively about a man shocked by the discovery that his former high school unrequited love interest has appeared in an adult magazine, the singer’s lustful thoughts continue to the end. The previous hit of the J Geils’s Band, “Love Stinks,” informed the guitar riff in “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and caused their shift from Blues to Pop-Rock.

9x9 (13. 148)

times new resistance: a typeface disguised to appear as the US government endorsed font but furnishes subversive autocorrect suggestions  

there are four lights: Star Trek: TNG episode “Chain of Command” is an allegory for domestic abuse  

prosperity gospel: at the US National Prayer Breakfast (see previously) Trump announces upcoming ceremony to rededicate America to Jesus  

dominotier: the guild of wallpaper makers and the many applications of their craft  

plasticine dream: render yourself in claymation in real time  

🦞: more on the theology created by AI agents—see previously—via Web Curios 

almanac: US Central Intelligence Agency in an act of cultural vandalism is not only sunsetting its World Factbook but also deleting its archives  

ill may day: Sir Ian McKellen masterfully recites from the apocryphal Shakespeare play about a sixteenth century anti-immigrant riot  

blackletter fraktur: on how the Gothic typeface, based on French handwriting, became synonymous with Nazism despite Hitler’s ban on its use—see previously—via Kottke

❄️ (13. 147)

Reminding us of the collection of Vermont meteorologist Snowflake Bentley’s collection, we enjoyed discovering the volume Sekka Zusetsu (雪華図説) published in 1832 by the fourth daimyō of the Koga shogunate, representing two decades of careful observations of snow flowers (sekka, せっか) through the lens of his own microscope imported from the Netherlands. The book, originally privately printed for the feudal lord and his family and friends, was released to general readership soon thereafter in an expanded version with the patterns incorporated as motifs in porcelain and textiles (including decorative elements in local buildings, sidewalks and manholes) throughout Japan. More from Public Domain Review at the link above.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: Andean textiles (with synchronopticæ), demon mode/pious mode plus Wikipedia rabbitholes

twelve years ago: UN critical of the Vatican plus the tense backdrop of the opening of the Winter Games

thirteen years ago: repairing the Greek economy plus living in a computer simulation

fourteen years ago: the Queen’s diamond jubilee  

fifteen years ago: a drive through the Haßberge 

sixteen years ago: holiday overlap 

obit. (13. 146)

The venerable and respected family publication and paper of record purchased by a holding company owned by Jeff Bezos in 2013, appearing at the time to be a genuine act of philanthropy to save the struggling regional daily when the Amazon billionaire seemed to be politically agnostic and more aloof than most of his monied cohort though in retrospect and re-evaluated through the lens of the likes of Elon Musk’s leveraged takeover of another media outlet we have to wonder, announced, at the direction of the executive editor of a massive cut in staff, eliminating one third of reporters and doing away with its sports and literary desks and foreign bureaus. Whilst the Washington Post is again struggling financially after a period of revival and increased engagement owing to the injection of cash and social media savvy—due in no small part to Bezos’ shadow-cum-full-throated endorsement of Trump and currying favour with the administration—and is symptomatic of the journalistic landscape at large, the layoffs, resulting in significant cancellations of subscription, and restructuring do seem like a concession with the dual objective of divesting oneself from a losing venture, although the cuts preserve the core of the capital’s coverage and reporting on DC, which during those golden years above—benefitting from the Trump bump of chaotic publicity during the first term and continuing—which drew his ire, casting aspersions against non-propagandists as enemies of the people. Scaling back foreign correspondents, however, may limit the broader story. The announcement also coincides with the premiere of the expensive flop of a vanity biopic of FLOTUS, a joint project of Amazon Films and MGM Studios (whose box-office comes at the same time as the final release of the Epstein files) as well as previously being a corporate donor to the inauguration and destruction of the White House East Wing.

snake-charmer (13. 145)

Having covered the mistaken medical caduceus (from the Ancient Greek κηρύκειον for “herald’s wand”) and the iconography of the intertwined serpents representing the fleet-footed messenger of the gods Hermes / Mercury and also the brilliant corporate logos of graphic designer Paul Rand previously, we enjoyed this brief missive from the Daily Heller revisiting the two topics. This deviation and arguable misuse as a symbol for healing, rather than the Rod of Asclepius, the deity associated with the medical arts and whose staff only has a single snake with no wings, dates back to a well-documented adoption of the insignia by the US army surgeon general and the decision of a single officer over the objection of scholars and badge bearers in dated to 1902. The abstract corporate logo, one of Rand’s first, is from 1945 and reflects that misapplication (likely also a choice for symmetry though the caduceus is also associated with alchemy) for client Smith, Kline & French, pharmaceutical company specialising originally in geriatric drugs—now part of Glaxo Wellcome.

synchronoptica

one year ago: US tariffs and shipping restrictions for China (with synchronopticæ) plus chromatic wood type

twelve years ago: monuments men plus improving clinical Wikipedia 

thirteen years ago: self-hypnosis plus an abdication in the Netherlands

fourteen years ago: Star Wars abstract art 

sixteen years ago: geometric dreaming