statute at large (12. 035)

Not exercised since the codification of the US congress’ role in determining the federal budget in 1974 in response to Nixon’s abuse of the prerogative of impoundment as a violation of the American system of checks and balances and separation of powers (specifically, the president frustrated the will of the legislature by arguing that the administration could withhold monetary assistance for water pollution reduction grants that the White House vetoed and was subsequently overridden, the Environmental Protection Agency a product of Nixon himself) until late July of 2019 when Trump attempted to direct the Office of Management and Budget to not disburse funds for Ukraine while coercing an investigation into the family of his political rival, Joe Biden—for which Trump was impeached for the first time, the matter never purview of the Supreme Court to debate its constitutionality. A tool limited by political norms afforded to past presidents and currently in the form of line-item vetos and requests for rescission of appropriated funds, Trump wants to now channel the act of congress and restore the power as yet another quiver to subvert fiduciary guidance and steamroll the legislative branch by empowering his Department of Government Efficiency.

when the moon is in the seventh house (12. 034)

Courtesy of fellow internet caretaker, Messy Nessy, we are directed to a lavish performance of the medley The Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by the indomitable Miss Raquel Welch. Filmed in 1968 just one year after Hair and The Fifth Dimension’s popular rendition, it was shot on location at the Pirámide del Sol in Teotihuacán originally to promote the Mexico City Olympic Games (see previously here and here)—but probably more people retain a hazy memory, or fever dream, of this sequence for its inclusion in the 1970 CBS television special Raquel! with extravagant musical numbers set in exotic, cosmopolitan locales. The elaborate zodiac costumes were designed by Bob Mackie—dresser of such icons as Cher, Bette Midler, Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, Oprah among many other luminaries.

8x8 (12. 033)

this is all i’m asking for: Mariah Carey’s ubiquitous Christmas song in the style of classical composers  

anti-slapp legislation: lawmakers rush to protect journalist and protesters from nuisance lawsuits before Trump takes office  

🍭: experimental lickable devices extend augmented reality—see previously  

don’t bring your zombies to work: ULCA student creates an escape room in their dormitory  

the federation of damanhur: a spiritual commune outside of Turin constructed a spectacular network of secret underground temples in the 1970s, uncovered and protected, despite their illegal building, in 1992  

all delicious mac & cheese recipes are alike; each gross mac & cheese recipe is gross in its own way: a dish from Leo Tolstoy—aka, Mac & Peace—via Kottke  

11 bizarre things the US government actually spent money on: Musk’s mandate to increase efficiency does not add up, is sourced from a Readers’ Digest listicle 

anitra’s dance: quilts inspired by the music of Peer Gynt—see previously—via MetaFilter

grand marshal (12. 032)

First taking place along the route of 34th Street to the flagship store on Herald Square with store workers dressed up in vibrant costumes, floats, marching bands and borrowed animals from the Central Park Zoo (later replaced by balloons) and initially called Macy’s Christmas Parade, the annual tradition began on this day in 1924, welcoming Santa Claus with an enthronement ceremony on the portico of the department store’s entrance. Tied as the second oldest Thanksgiving pageant in the US after Philadelphia’s municipal one, it was immediately declared to held yearly due to popular acclaim despite it being barely covered in the press and has aired live on television since 1953. The popularity of the event was also due to civic pressure for an alternative way to celebrate the holiday rather than the custom called Ragamuffin or Beggars’ Day that came into being in New York shortly after the national holiday was declared by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 (see also) in the spirit of reconciliation after the Civil War. Children dressed, prior to the popularisation of Halloween, as exaggerated imitations of the poor and unhoused and went door-to-door, begging for pocket change and other treats—much to the annoyance of adults and sought to channel this activity into a more wholesome and organised one, with commercial sponsorship.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: home taping is killing music (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: municipal concessions to attract big business, speculation about the identity of the individual who invented bitcoin plus more profiles of colours

 

eight years ago: assorted links to revisit plus franchises universes

 

ten years ago: lycanthropy and other divided-selves  

eleven years ago: Wiesbaden’s Christmas Market plus the avatars of Thanksgiving past

disenshittify or die (12. 031)

Albeit coming up to speed to an extent but recognising the continuing diatribe, Macquaire Dictionary has selected enshittification as its World of the Year for 2024, defining the term as the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking. Derived terms (none yet honoured in other authoritative lexicons) include enshittocene and the great enshittening, although all seem to do a disservice in deflecting from the bait-and-switch tactic sold under duress as the only sustainable business model, immediate rather than informed. Honourable mentions include brainrot, social battery for the stamina that one has for engagements and rawdogging, an unfortunate, awkwardly glossed and prevalent alternative to self-denial and asceticism.

i am an authorised representative of the intergalactic mission (12. 030)

Courtesy of our faithful chronicler, a decade ahead of the more infamous Max Headroom Signal hijacking (caution, flashing images), we learn that on this day in 1977 viewers in southern England watching the ITN 5:10 pm news summary got quite a shock when the audio was commandeered by a deep buzzing and a electronically garbled voice addressing the world for some six minutes before returning to regular programming. Claiming to Asteron of the Vrillon race of extraterrestrials, the speaker delivered a message on behalf of the Ashtar Galactic Command (after the name of beings, ascended masters several contactees since the early 1950s claimed to have channelled as mediums):

For many years you have seen us as lights in the skies. We speak to you now in peace and wisdom as we have done to your brothers and sisters all over this, your planet Earth. We come to warn you of the destiny of your race and your world so that you may communicate to your fellow beings the course you must take to avoid the disaster which threatens your world, and the beings on our worlds around you.

This is in order that you may share in the great awakening, as the planet passes into the New Age of Aquarius. The New Age can be a time of great peace and evolution for your race, but only if your rulers are made aware of the evil forces that can overshadow their judgments.

Be still now and listen, for your chance may not come again. All your weapons of evil must be removed. The time for conflict is now past and the race of which you are a part may proceed to the higher stages of its evolution if you show yourselves worthy to do this. You have but a short time to learn to live together in peace and goodwill.  Small groups all over the planet are learning this, and exist to pass on the light of the dawning New Age to you all.

You are free to accept or reject their teachings, but only those who learn to live in peace will pass to the higher realms of spiritual evolution. Hear now the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, speaking to you. Be aware also that there are many false prophets and guides at present operating on your world. They will suck your energy from you—the energy you call money and will put it to evil ends and give you worthless dross in return.

Your inner divine self will protect you from this. You must learn to be sensitive to the voice within that can tell you what is truth, and what is confusion, chaos and untruth. Learn to listen to the voice of truth which is within you and you will lead yourselves onto the path of evolution. This is our message to our dear friends. We have watched you growing for many years as you too have watched our lights in your skies.

You know now that we are here, and that there are more beings on and around your Earth than your scientists admit. We are deeply concerned about you and your path towards the light and will do all we can to help you. Have no fear, seek only to know yourselves, and live in harmony with the ways of your planet Earth. We here at the Ashtar Galactic Command thank you for your attention. We are now leaving the planes of your existence. May you be blessed by the supreme love and truth of the cosmos.

The transcript varies slightly according to the recollection of witnesses, and the station afterwards apologised for what was described as a “breakthrough in sound,” the network technically explaining how such a hoax could have occurred though the prank would have demanded not only considerable coordination and expertise to pull off. No one ever came forward and the author of the missive is unknown and is accepted as gospel by some in the ufology community—and in any case not a bad message for humankind. 

monsterpiece theatre (12. 029)

Although a bit of a try-hard and with some definite tendencies towards this aesthetic, I always admired the Sesame Street character, one of the original cast members, Prairie Dawn—having developed a distinct, precocious personality out of an Anything Muppet—and aspiring journalist and director. We didn’t appreciate however how often she was shown reading (particularly during the late 80s and early 90s) reading, and not fictitious works that played on some classic title but actual literature well above her cohort’s reading-level, including A Room of One’s Own and Orlando by Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Feminine Mystique, The Bell Jar and Anna Karenina.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: the retroactive canonising of Disney (with synchronoptica), sculptor Roberto Cordone plus assorted links to revisit

seven years ago: a gender-neutral God plus emotional manipulation with alcohol

eight years ago: Turkey threats to open borders to transit refugees to the EU, a tacit challenge to uphold democratic values amid fake news plus colouring-books for grown-ups

ten years ago: Ottoman successors and Nazi predecessors plus eccentric aristocrats

eleven years ago: preserving traditional viniculture in the Rheingau 

8x8 (12. 028)

ofdon: US Defence Secretary nominee views the armed forces as means for promoting Christian Reconstructionism and the patriarchy  

fugatto: a new AI-powered audio editor claims to create sounds never before heard  

mrs french’s cat is missing: the 2008 Canadian horror film Pontypool about a viral outbreak that coopts language as a vector is a MetaFilter favourite  

cop29: members agree to an annual three hundred billion dollar stipend to help poorer countries cope with climate change as talks nearly implode  

virtual geoglyphs: the community of GPS artists transforming their daily perambulations into a kind of sky-writing

test kitchen: corporate casseroles and other industry influences on Thanksgiving—see also 

letters from england: Karel Čapek’s (see previously) impression of his host country in exile 

🎯: Elon Musk muses about purchasing the news network MSNBC, along with other shitposting