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.

es muß nicht immer kaviar sein (13. 932)

The best-selling novel by Austrian author Johannes Mario Simmel, prolific writer himself navigating post-war and Cold War Europe and must have certainly included some autobiographical elements in one of several works adapted for both film and a television series with something different on the menu for each episode to further the protagonist’s obligation, in exchange for freedom of movement and not returning to occupied Germany, as a double-agent, lauded as the first galloping gourmet spy thriller. Whilst perhaps not the last in the subgenre, it does have some if not perfectly aligned real world antecedents, for all the intelligence organisations we are still not sure how much of his writing was confessional, with this Berlin blockade cookbook or Julia Child’s covert work for the Allies. As the narrative unfolds, the protagonist switches feigned allegiances from one espionage agency to another, trying to save as many lives as possible by diffusing tensions with his seductive culinary skill, recipes included. The final assignment, on the orders of J Edgar Hoover is to neutralise a notorious Soviet spy in exchange for retirement, when the protagonist’s own death is staged and he is allowed to live in peace.

expanded universe (13. 931)

Via Kottke, we learn that beginning with Episode IV in 1981 and concluding in 1996 with the radio play version of Return of the Jedi, US National Public Radio produced and broadcast a dramatisation of the Star Wars saga for the airwaves. Not only did the programme for listeners that stretched out over fourteen hours—filmmaker George Lucas so enamoured by the idea he sold the NPR affiliate station of the University of California’s School (Lucas’ alma mater) of Performing Arts audio rights to the trilogy, including the film’s score and sound-effects for one dollar—reprise the familiar voices of Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Billy Dee Williams plus a cast of notables to pad out the dialogue and give voice to the non-speaking parts for the sake of the medium, like Ed Begley Jr as Boba Fett, Perry King (Harrison Ford’s understudy for the role) as Han Solo, Brock Peters as Darth Vader (Starfleet Admiral Cartwright in the original cast films and Ben Sisko’s father Joseph on DS9) and John Lithgow as Yoda, many scenes were limned with additional narrative and exposition, savvily securing thousands of younger audience members to the station’s content, and included material not used for the cinematic version, like Luke Skywalker’s backstory growing up on Tatooine and friendship with Biggs Darklighter and Leia Organa’s acquisition of the Death Star plans (no Bothians died to bring us that information—that was for Death Star II). The broadcast was presented in hour-long weekly instalments, with chapter titles like “A Wind to Shake the Stars,” “Rogues, Rebels and Robots,” “Force and Counter Force,” “Gambler’s Choice” and “The Jedi Nexus.” NPR received production assistance from BBC, in exchange for airing the series in the UK. Enjoy the entire trilogy at Open Culture at the link above.