who’s maxxing now? (13. 940)

Rising to the top of its shortlist of contenders, including affordability, data centres, odyssey and unc—a clipping from African American vernacular for uncle and transformed into the new pronouncement of “OK Boomer” or being out of touch—the term for optimisation of a pursuit and all its derivatives was selected as the Dictionary.com Word of the Year. Whilst not a new concept or coinage, Will Smith was “maxin’ and relaxin’” already as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the idea has been used since the 1940s for game theory, we’ve all seemingly been consigned to slang, willingly or not, that has its origins in the incel community, privileging appearance through looksmaxxing above all else, the affix mainstreamed in its versatility and applicability—speaking more to the drive to keep jonesing for the Jones’, having a certain etymological pedigree but up for infinite personalisation, more freedom from influencers is in on the horizon. Those lethalitymaxxers gooning for the Pentagon can be the first boots on the ground and possibly cause the buzzy trend to fizzle out so we are no longer held captive by it.

day two hundred thirty seven (13. 939)

Reversing an earlier announcement of tele-rallies, Trump is attending campaign events in the final days before the midterm elections in once bulwarks of the GOP, Kansas and Iowa, that have turned into battlegrounds over his unpopularity and poor handling of the economy and foreign relations. It is very much in the Republican playbook to crash the break the budget and sever diplomatic ties, after inheriting stability, and leave it to the Democrats to clean up the chaos and get the blame for the sabotage and slow turn-around. Meanwhile, the media is too fixated on the run-off between Dans Sullivan in Alaska to address the allegation that Trump raped Miss Switzerland or how the administration purchased a vote-tabulation machine to reverse engineer it and exploit vulnerabilities through AI-aided hacking. Palestinian vice president Hussein al-Sheikh holds high level talks with European delegates, accusing the IDF of targeting Gazan police officers and urging the perpetrators of violence be held accountable. Iranian foreign minister Araghchi awaits US response on their framework for reopening Hormuz. King Charles arrives in Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Conference and apologies for the UK’s slave trading past, though prime minister Burnham does not believe that reparations should be on the table. The Anglican communion, whose clergy also owned enslaved individuals, has independently established a fund of one hundred million pounds for affected communities and research into the legacy of Britain’s role in the transatlantic trade.

estado libre asociado (13. 938)

Two days after a failed attempt by nationalists to overthrow government of Puerto Rico, uprisings violently suppressed in many cities and villages by the national guard with support from military bombers which strafed the town of Jayuya, the US Secret Service faced its biggest gunfight (so far) in foiling an assassination attempt on President Harry S Truman carried out by secessionists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola. During renovations to the White House, Truman was staying in Blair House, the official guest accommodations used for visiting heads of state. The conspirators wanted bring the world’s attention to the independence movement and how self-determination was denied, and though acknowledging that neither was a professional marksman and the plan was near suicidal, they felt that security might be laxer outside of the executive mansion. Torresola snuck up on the west side of the building while his partner Collazo went to the Pennsylvania Avenue stoop. Torresola ambushed a White House police officer at a guard booth, the two mortally wounding each other in the exchange with both he and Collazo never entering the residence. Truman had been upstairs napping during the attack. Afterwards, the American president requested that the widow of the police officer killed in the line of duty make a goodwill tour of Puerto Rico, receiving condolences from from crowds and delivering a speech that she did not blame the island’s people for the acts of the militant separatists. The surviving would-be assassin, Oscar Collazo was convicted and sentenced to death—which Truman commuted to life behind bars and eventually pardoned with time served by Jimmy Carter, returning to San Juan and advocating for autonomy and criticising US imperialism until his death in 1994. Moreover Truman acknowledged the importance of the status of Puerto Rico and supported a plebiscite less than fourteen months following his assassination attempt. Eighty-two percent of voters approved of retaining the status quo as a commonwealth, though independence was not really on the ballot, only continued free association or a return to direct rule.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links (with synchronoptica) to revisit plus St Caesarius

two years ago: more links to enjoy, research vessel R/P FLIP, Alphabet sued by Russia, character amnesia plus a fan super site on Super Mario lore 

three years ago: Three Hazel Nuts for Cinderella (1973), Hambuglar Goes to Hell plus even more links

four years ago: another penny black, assorted links to revisit plus the Word of the Year

five years ago: another Word of the Year plus a starting point to restore our burning world

six years ago: The Mask (1961), the Sistine Chapel opened to the public plus indigenous characters in comics

seven years ago: a space odyssey, World Vegan Day, more mushrooming plus Blade Runner

eight years ago: Trump activates the army to guard the border, movie ratings, an Ansel Adams’ photograph plus a bio brick

 

there’s a light—over at the frankenstein place (13. 937)

The cast of the Broadway revival of Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show (the stage musical adaptation of the original Riff-Raff’s concept for the cult classic—more poignant with this year’s loss of the iconic Frank-N-Furter in Tim Curry) got to haunt the studios of National Public Radio and took over the Tiny Desk venue (in journalism parlance, that’s like being assigned to the Middle East desk for one’s beat) for a joyful mini-concert featuring five energetic numbers, including the preamble “Science Fiction / Double-Feature” and of course “Time Warp” with audience participation.

day two hundred thirty six (13. 936)

Ukrainian drones hit Russian Kstovo crude oil refinery, setting it ablaze, the third in as many days. Iranian foreign ministry reports that talks are ongoing with Qatari mediators to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the US cooperates, whilst Trump says negotiations are going fine and claims that he is not in much of a hurry to make a deal. The Revolutionary Guard signals its readiness to take on any offensive scenario—saying that even limited strikes risk escalation. Thousands rally in Tel Aviv urging the opposition party of Gadi Eisenkot to relent and form a coalition government with Arab parties in order to remove Netanyahu from power. Though Trump says there’s no rush to reach a settlement, renewed fighting with Tehran could be severely hampered with the loss of Israeli forces as well as by Republican defectors if GOP losses in the races cause them to split with the American president before the new congress is called into session. Palestinian farmers struggle to protect their olive harvest amid continuing attacks by settlers in the West Bank. Isolated incidents of violence and looting mar the mostly peaceful Gen Z protests across Germany.

zoom-out (13. 935)

In an annual worldwide competition established with a more local focus, to make the Tuscan city and environs the international capital of photography (previously), the Siena Drone Photo Awards once again delivers with a rather incredible gallery of submissions that express narratives not seen at ground level, requiring a thousand foot view, often revealing the inappreciable effects of human industry on the natural environment or the scale of said markets. Like the overall winner captured in Bangladesh of a beached salvage operation, this other runner-up image of ferries in Dhaka, from George Steinmetz, in contrast to the country’s shipbreaking remit, as thousands take to the waterways surrounding the capital to return home for Eid al-Adha (বকরি ঈদ, honouring Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his own son at God’s command—Ishmael may have been saved by the divine intervention of an angel delivering a goat in his stead or that happier ending may be the latter insertion of a pious fiction, God replacing this fail-son with the more righteous Isaac—stones are cast at Satan for trying to convince the patriarch otherwise) celebrations, the deck of the barges filled with vivid patchwork of travellers and their belongings.

7x7 (13. 934)

homework: a long-long restoration of a 1997 Daft Punk mix  

space dad: five masterful performances in the role of Capt Picard—see also

marble madness: remembering playing this game on Nintendo until I dreamed about the classical mechanics, we enjoyed this AI ginned-up tribute—via Web Curios 

la catrina monumental: a roundup of the mega ofrenda and Dapper Skulls of Mexico City for Día de los Muertos 

to boldly go: Buckingham Palace Royal Guard honour the passing of Stewart—but with the wrong Star Trek theme—see also—it’s the thought that counts and sadly could have been rehearsed for Walter Koening

 mousse moose: joke mock menu fare from the 1940s, widely imitated by other restaurants through the next decade reminds of those off-putting AI generated daily specials  

a man for all generations: more accolades for Patrick Stewart  

alive tour: an upcoming LEGO collaboration with the former electronic music duo

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica), Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) plus This is Halloween

two years ago: a Halloween tragedy from 1974 that ruined trick-or-treating for everyone plus ghoulish ABBA 

three years ago: the first International Savings Bank Congress (1925) 

four years ago: St Quintinus

five years ago: suffrage in Switzerland, a Brazilian monopod, dancing security dogs, more links to enjoy plus Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses

six years ago: a collection of strange classical music compositions, Frestonia, police propaganda plus even more links

seven years ago: Halloween greetings, a collection of metro logos, a Cornish holiday, the Speaker of the House steps down plus the Trump impeachment

eight years ago: more of the season’s salutations, an October Surprise plus the March of Folly

 

day two hundred thirty five (13. 933)

Pope Leo XIV submits his mail-in ballot ahead of Tuesday’s US midterm elections, registered in Chicago and having voted abroad in most races according to the Illinois state board of elections. Residence begin evacuation through a safe corridor from the war-raved city of Oleshky. More tankers in the Strait of Hormuz came under fire or disabled by limpet mines as Ukrainian drones target Russia’s shadow fleet in the Black Sea. French-style cost of living rallies expected to spread to German cities amidst protests over high energy prices. Houthi drones strike Riyadh as Tehran’s foreign ministry issues a warning of “earth-shattering” consequences if US and Israel resume attacks, implicating Berlin’s above complaints about fuel costs the country in the belligerent camp.