day two hundred eleven (13. 857)

Daytime strikes continue on the Ukrainian capital and another bridge is hit as German chancellor Merz meets with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, a day after Moscow issued a warning that diplomats and foreign nationals face “mortal danger” if they decide to come to Ukraine. Zelenskyy has pledged to step up targeting of Russian energy infrastructure and to avoid civilian casualties, despite this apparent shift in aggression. Houthi rebels hit a Saudi Aramco petroleum facility outside of Riyadh—violent exchanges between the rebels and the internationally recognised government are escalating, the Houthis holding Sanaa whilst the exiled Yemeni federation holds Aden. Tehran’s chief negotiator, talks continuing through intermediaries after Trump rejected out of hand Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, says that the era of “wasted time and” the US “dictating demands is over” and Washington must fulfil the seven conditions agreed upon in the Islamabad deal from June, reflected in the MoU.

tea and gargoyles (13. 856)

As we get firmly ensconced in the Spooky Season, we are directed, courtesy of {feuilleton} to the the first modern ghost story anthology, as selected and compiled by Lady Cynthia Asquith—which marks its centenary in print this month (the cover from the 1970 edition pictured but all the original tales can be read here). As editor, Asquith’s discernment is to be lauded for expanding the genre to include the uncanny and nebulously menacing, recruiting notable contemporaries, like D H Lawrence, Algernon Blackwood, Hugh Walpole and Enid Bagnold, with some magical realism, psychological distress, preternatural abilities accepted as fact that anticipate later collections, like those featured in The Twilight Zone, without straying into the realm of unbidden horror or rustic superstition. Oliver Onions’ two vignettes, the author dismissing them as trifles, explores the notion that broadcast signals (the wireless a fairly new innovation at the time) are somehow interfering with spectral repose and invite hauntings, and Asquith’s own contribution under the pseudonym C L Ray deals in cursed antiques and unfinished business. A respected author in her own right, Asquith was also a diarist and a Royal-Watcher with a regular column on the Family and was personal secretary to J M Barrie, who left her his entire literary estate, except Peter Pan.  

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump dollar coins (with synchronoptica) 

two years ago: anchor Dan Rather assaulted, an ongoing treasure hunt plus another scavenger hunt  

three years ago: a return visit to Markbreit 

four years ago: The Tornados’ Telstar plus assorted links to revisit

five years ago: The Final Programme (1973)

six years ago: the Feast of Francis of Assisi, cross-section infographics plus Sir David Attenborough as insects

seven years ago: a pastel makeover for London’s subway carriages,  cinnamon-roll day plus award-winning laundromats of Japan

eight years ago: a sketch a day for October, the International Geophysical Year plus Bavaria’s plans for a Space Force of its own

 

domain squatting (13. 855)

Trump, deciding that the potential for the eschatological world ending crisis was giving AI an bad reputation, along with the universally despised data-centres needed to keep inflating the bubble and buoy up the American economy, recently rebranded it as SI, now with an apparent mandate within the federal government and defence contractors not to dead-name Super Intelligence. In Polish, it is called Sztuczna inteligencja (SI) and in German Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) and Umetna inteligentnost (UI)—though these abbreviations are rarely used in common parlance, albeit for the latter, it happens to be the country code top-level domain for Slovenia, coincidentally the homeland of Melania Trump (they’re not sending their best people), First Lady and hooker introduced to the future American president by Jeffrey Epstein (the Iran war has proved to be a good distraction) and by all rights would have been deported to a hostile third nation if it weren’t for her anchor baby. With the actual .ai already spoken (calling it American Intelligence would net nothing) for by Anguilla and witnessing the fallout occurring after Chagos was scheduled for independence, it wouldn’t at all be surprising if the Trump Crime Family Syndicate—and sycophantic corporations—weren’t already lining up for the new rollout, the rebranding intimating that Trump invented it. Ljubljana thankfully has registry laws to counter cybersquatting in bad faith unlike the lawless US trademark regime.

soroptimist international (13. 854)

Founded on this day in 1921 in Oakland, California, (SI, from the Latin soror, sister, and optima, the best) by Violet Richaradson, Eloise Cushing and Stuart Morrow, the first chapter of the movement has grown into a global volunteer organisation with nearly seventy thousand members advocating and championing women’s causes, providing educational grants, domestic violence shelters and healthcare. Richardson (pictured below—the shotgun was for dispatching with rattlesnakes for the hiking association she also started), as first president of the club, was an early pioneer of physical education for adolescents and established the Berkley Women’s Gymnasium for adult females whilst pursuing her master’s degree in general education. A chapter in London was founded in parallel and Madame Suzanne Blanche Gros Noël of Paris, the first female cosmetic surgeon who performed countless reconstructive operations for veterans disfigured in World War I and invented the face-lift, was instrumental in starting clubs in France and ten other European capitals, expansion of the movement interrupted by the outbreak of World War II when members shifted their efforts towards helping those fleeing the Nazis. Since the early 2000s, SI has garnered status as an NGO with consultative capacity with the United Nations and maintains official relations with the World Health Organisation. Other members of note include classics scholar Mary Creighton Bailey of Canterbury whom went on to join the British High Commission for Germany with the remit of de-nazifying school curriculum, teacher, conductor and composer Juliette Nadia Boulanger whose students included Aaron Copland, Quincy Jones and Philip Glass, Australian Mary Campbell Dawbarn, pioneering nutritionist and biochemist whose research on B-complex vitamins fundamentally shaped our understand of biochemistry and militant Scottish suffragette Flora Drummond.

oh rob (18. 853)

Debuting on this day in 1961, attracting few viewers for the initial telecast competing against the established staples of the sitcom Bachelor Father on ABC and the Western Laramie on NBC, CBS considered pulling the Carl Reiner vehicle after the release of the underperforming pilot, but was rescued in part due to intervention from Proctor & Gamble who threatened to pull commercial sponsorship if the series was not renewed—going on for five seasons, with the principal cast saying that they wanted to retire the show whilst they were still proud of it. Split between two sets—among the first sitcoms recorded with a live studio audience—the show had the meta, breaking-the-fourth-wall premise of following the work and home life of Robert Petrie (Dick Van Dyke), the head writer of a comedy-variety television programme, the fictional Alan Brady Show starring Reiner as the host, from his Manhattan production office with co-writers Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Rose Marie), with the after hours focus on his family in suburban New Rochelle, his wife and former USO entertainer, Laura, played by Mary Tyler Moore.

day two hundred ten (13. 852)

Hegseth announces that US troops will get a day off to call their in the upcoming midterms—federal workers are granted up to three hours of administrative leave (down from four hours) whilst the rest of the voting public do not receive any allowance to exercise their democratic right. Pressure mounts for another referendum in the UK to annul Brexit and rejoin the EU as polls reveal over half of voters of all political persuasion support reentry into the single market. Russian airstrikes on bridges in Kyiv causes traffic chaos, whilst Putin attempts to convince the world that NATO is about to impose a blockade on Kaliningrad. Students in Paris riot over planned cuts to the education budget. Pope Leo puts out a missive in Latin as a withering takedown of AI. El Niño causes massive flooding in Thailand, the waters not receding and turning the streets of Bangkok into stagnant lakes, with speculation that the weather formation may mean there is no hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. More tankers are attached in the Strait of Hormuz. Revolutionary Guards spokesperson says that Tehran’s weapons-building capacities are fully restored and have reached maturity, in accordance with operational requirements, whilst the South Pars gasfield achieves peak production. Market analyst recognise Trump’s pressuring of G7 members to release strategic diesel reserves as a mere delay tactic which may provide temporary, nominal relief (if at all) and fails to address underlying structural problems and further erodes consumer confidence. IDF continues to terrorise Gaza, the West Bank and neighbours in southern Lebanon.

hello ghosties (13. 851)

Once again a bit late to the party, we rediscover the pop-up newsletter from Laura E Hall that celebrates thirty-one days of Halloween, with daily vignettes for the month of October featuring art, anecdotes, decorating and nostalgic readings, like today’s feuilleton featuring our friend Basil Rathbone reciting some scary stories from Edgar Allen Poe, all for Spooky Season. If you miss a day like us, there’s a full archive but be sure to follow along, as comes the first of November, the newsletter returns to its crypt.

synchronoptica

one year ago: more Riquewihr (with synchronoptica) 

two years ago: a banger from Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, the Berlin Freedom and Unity monument plus thirty-one days of Halloween

three years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus US congress without a speaker 

four years ago: more links to enjoy, Tree Talk plus Star Wars Cantina music as inspiration 

five years ago: your daily demon: Malphas plus der Tag der Deutsche Einheit

six years ago: a logical second plus a bit of seasonal decoration

seven years ago: East Germans flee to Czechoslovakia (1989),  Germany’s four corners, Trump in Europe, Banksy’s shop, Inland Printer plus East Berlin’s TV Tower

eight years ago: the 2008 financial crisis, reminders of a divided Germany, Plastic Love plus Trump-inspired cocktails

 

 

day two hundred nine (13. 850)

According to Trump, European countries, at his bidding, agree to release a “massive amount” of diesel reserves as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide, the American president blaming Ukraine for the supply shortage. EU stockpiles dwarf those of the US (as do China’s) because the bloc requires members maintain a ninety-day emergency contingency, and the energy shock was blunted by Beijing’s decision to tap its reserves rather than buying on the open market and further tightening the stocks and driving up prices even further. The reasons behind this magnanimity remain unclear but EU should at minimum leverage their decision with a demand for ending tariffs or be consulted before casting the world into chaos—or perhaps it’s just like the potash from Belarus deal.  Houthi rebels clash with Yemeni forces in Sanaa as the struggle for control of the country escalates. Iraq is granted an exemption to US sanctions on Iranian air carriers and allowed to administer a limited number of flights between Najaf and Tehran. The supreme court of Israel unanimously overturns the earlier decision by the country’s central elections commission to exclude Arabic parties from the upcoming parliamentary vote.