synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticรฆ), a close encounter in France plus the first flying saucers in film
twelve years ago: global warming, global weirding
thirteen years ago: the freegan movement
fourteen years ago: piracy and the publishing industry
sixteen years ago: gimmickry and security theatre
seventeen years ago: the US president-elect waits his turn
In the latest episode of the always engrossing History of English podcast by Kevin Stroud, we are treated to how nautical terminology has informed the language as it spread outward, naturally by maritime means coinciding with a boom in literature and romancing the life at sea, some of which we’ve encountered beforehand in fossilised expressions and figures of speech with the jargon of professionals and amateurs alike influencing the way we communicate. Whilst there are plentiful examples of scholarly consensus, like false flag and true colours (a vessel either disguising its nationality for subterfuge or displaying its allegiance) and to pass with flying colours—defeated and retreating ships usually furled their banners, our guide also warns of CANOE—not the five big personality traits of conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness and extraversion, but rather for linguists the folk origins of the Conspiracy to Ascribe a Naval Origin to Everything and the popular Jackspeak of the eighteenth century that tried to shoehorn sailor slang into any conversation. 
Other words and phrases genuinely attributed to seafaring and skirmishes that have taken on expanded meanings on land include above board, anything conducted on deck and in plain view for all, aloof, from the Dutch for windward, to be at loggerheads, an iron ball with a long handle heated and used to seal pitch and a handy weapon for quarrelling crew, close quarters, refuge of the enclosed and easily defended forecastle, the devil to pay, the onerous task of caulking the longest seam in the hull, dressing down, to refresh worn sails with oil and wax, slush fund, leftover slurry that the ship’s cook sold to make a little extra money for himself bought by sailors not satisfied with the rations, skyscraper, a small triangular sail atop the main mast used in light wind, filibusters, loose canon, pipe down and being under the weather, assigned to the worst watch station at the front of the bow and falling ill from the crash and spray of the waves.
We’ve covered before the disappointment expressed by fans of having that five-year mission curtailed and production limbo of the first cinematic adaptation of the franchise and now courtesy of Miss Cellania and Damn Interesting we learn that what became Star Trek: The Motion Picture was primarily reworking of material developed for a planned televised revival series, drawing on the popularity of the original show in syndication and cast members on the convention circuit that arose in the early 1970s not long after cancellation. 
Although Spock was not to return for the continuing voyages as a regular character, most of the main crew did with a few additions, first officer Will Decker, Deltan navigator Ilia and Vulcan science officer Xon and scripts and storyboards for at least nineteen episodes were drafted though to never go into production. Some narratives fed directly into the movie’s plot and premises were rewritten for TNG, but many with elements of impostor infiltration and time-travel throughout were never developed further—including a dangerous, covert bit of shuttle diplomacy to the Klingon homeworld to negotiate with the child emperor in order to avert galactic war. Much more about each episode and their writing teams at the link up top, including a conceptual arc from Jerome Bixby, science-fiction author with Star Trek and Twilight Zone teleplays to his credit.
Yesterday’s summit hosted in Paris attended by a dozen EU nations—“the coalition of the willing”—during which Macron, Starmer and Merz pledged to station troops as peacekeepers in a post-armistice Ukraine, with such security protocols endorsed by the Trump administration was a significant accomplishment even though the meeting itself was rather a split-screen of trust and distrust. 
Russian opposition to a permanent NATO defence force makes the deployment seem unlikely to materialise and pointedly leaders, after having issued a rather vague and tepid strongly worded statement in support of Denmark and Greenland’s right to self-determination and freedom from outside interference, were questioned by the press what value the commitments carried when Washington, a threat from within, is scheming to forcibly annex the sovereign territory of another NATO partner. The overtures have turned into unveiled threats (particularly unnerving after the abduction of Venezuelan president Maduro—Afghanistan has vast untapped mineral wealth which the US was occupying but abandoned under a deal set up under Trump and few would mourn the kidnapping of the Taliban now) despite the fact the US already has a space base on the world’s largest island and has access to Greenlandic resources already with Trump arguing untruly that the Arctic sea lanes are congested with Russian and Chinese ships and that America needs a firmer foothold and greater, exclusive dominance for hemispheric security.
synchronoptica
one year ago: moderating social media (with synchronopticรฆ), president-elect tries to rename Gulf of Mexico plus England’s Home of Mystery
twelve years ago: skeuomorphism plus phrenological projections
thirteen years ago: an Art Nouveau candelabra
fourteen years ago: plant updates, a typeface identifier plus a trip to the spa
fifteen years ago: global economic woes
sixteen years ago: a look back at the Millennial Bug
Apologies for propagating this somewhat irreverent earworm—but blame Miss Cellania for referring us to this lyrical seismic realignment of the classic Fleetwood Mac ballad, composed in 1975 but not released until 1997 as a single after the group reunited) to make it literally about natural disasters by Dustin Ballard (aka There I Ruined It, see previously) and friends. The band’s beautiful repertoire in my head isn’t so sacrosanct not to be above parody and often mentally set random phrases that scan alike to Edge of Seventeen, etc. I’m taking cover too.
On this day five years ago, a mob of Donald Trump supporters descended on the Capitol in an abortive self-coup to prevent a joint-session of the US congress from tallying and certifying the 2020 presidential election, formalising the victory of then president-elect Joe Biden. Instigated by Trump himself to “stop the steal” with false claims of widespread voter fraud and election irregularities, a “Save America” rally (in parallel to pressing vice president Pence to overturn the results) was held at the Ellipse at noon ahead of proceedings, the park south of the White House, gathering a crowd of thousands of MAGA members, whipped into a frenzy and dispatched to the Capitol. 
“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Some two thousand individuals forcibly entered the building, occupying the vacant senate chamber while authorities evacuated representatives amid vandalism and violence. Though repeating false claims, Trump told the mob to go home in peace. Certification resumed and by the next morning, Biden was declared the winner. Whilst not acknowledging defeat, under pressure from his cabinet, Trump conceded to an orderly transition of power in a televised statement. A week later, congress voted to impeach Trump for a second time but the senate failed to convict him, allowing the out-going president to run for public office again. Over fifteen hundred rioters were charged with federal crimes for the insurrection but as the culmination of the revisionist narrative that was presented regarding the event, all were granted clemency under the presidential pardon power by Trump just after re-taking office in 2024. A full-time and archived news reports (a bulwark against memory-holed resources) from NPR at the link up top.
flu season: experimentation with gene-editing tools suggest CRISPR may be able to stop the virus from replicating—see also
i want my mtv: a service that rebroadcasts the cable channel from its first day until they stopped playing music, including vintage commercials—via MetaFilter
l’etat, c’est moi: Trump makes the case for his own impeachment with his Mar-a-Lago press conference on Venezuela
fire with fire: stopping a rogue AI with an instinct for self-preservation may call for turning off the internet—or more drastic measures
a day of love: a plaque commemorating Washington, DC police for their actions during the Capitol insurrection has gone missing on this fifth anniversary—see below, see also
monkeybranching: Gen Z dating and relationship terminology
donroe doctrine: Denmark demands Trump quit his designs on seizing Greenland, risks the end of NATO
gomrath: a forgotten psychedelic masterpiece rediscovered fifty years on
home-brew: researchers develop a vaccine deliverable by beer
synchronoptica
one year ago: European Cultural Capitals (with synchronopticรฆ), certifying the vote of the electoral college plus the coat of arms of Denmark changed to signal Greenland is not for sale
twelve years ago: repeating history’s mistakes
thirteen years ago: cocoa and Christmas chocolates plus the threshold of discoverability for actors
fourteen years ago: debates over fluoridated water plus American empire
sixteen years ago: boxing up the Christmas stuff
seventeen years ago: a faded superpower
Reprising the ensemble of especially assembled backing performers from the previous season, Blondie’s Jimmy Destri and cabaret singer Joey Arias joining the musical guest and Klaus Nomi, David Bowie appeared on Saturday Night Live on this day in 1980 with the numbers “The Man Who Sold the World,” “Boys Keep Swinging” and “TVC-15.” 
Introduced by guest host Martin Sheen, these singular artists presented these songs with avant garde flair, testing the limits of abstraction and androgyny with the track from Station to Station sung in a skirt and stilletos and Bauhaus costumes with the latter from the Lodger ultilising a live green-screen to make Bowie into a marionette. Shortly after Bowie’s death in 2016, cast member Fred Armisen dedicated the episode to him, crediting Bowie for a transfixing experience from this particular show that the adolescent future comic stayed up late to watch and inspiring his own career to transform whatever venue, medium into art.
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