synchronoptica
one year ago: slippery when wet (with synchronoptica) plus an orgiastic organ performance
seven years ago: a trove of letterpress movie promotional blocks, assorted links worth revisiting, hostile punctuation plus a Jurassic park
eight years ago: a McDonald’s at the Vatican plus a gallery of perspective
Relations formally severed by the Eisenhower administration on this day in 1961 in the aftermath of the Cuba Revolution, partially restored under Carter for business interests though not under the aegis of anational flag (operated by the Swiss) and partially normalised under Obama in early 2014 with a ceremonious unfurling which was attended by the same detachment of Marines whom had lowered the flag for the last time of the US mission, the ousting of the Batista government by the popular people’s front of Castro was seen as a rejection of the widespread corruption and cronyism encouraged in part by brief American rule and support for maintaining the status quo.
A huge amount of American money was invested in real estate projects and sugar cane plantations, overwhelming and exploiting the domestic Cuban economy, and the revolutionary government nationalised all US assets. In response, Eisenhower imposed a strict embargo and travel restrictions, shutting down the Key West-Havana ferry service and closing the embassy. The partial restoration of relations was reversed three years later under Trump, reimposing travel and trade sanctions.
eixample: Barcelona’s nineteenth century urban revival and characteristic octagonal blocks
๐ฆ: adding fourth colour to traffic lights for safer sharing of roads with human drivers and autonomous vehicles
willkommen zu hause: a somewhat older documentary on club culture and techno in former East Germany with a connection to H has made it to Youtube
ha-ha woman, it’s a crying shame but you ain’t got nobody else to blame: equal rights and urban justice in medieval times
2-step authenication: secure passwords should require a performance like Liza Minelli tries to turn off a lamp—will a Fosse neck do it?
the monkey chew tobacco on the street car line: the Meters’ Hand Clapping Song
lycurgus cup: the fuzzy and fluorescent vases of Maxwell Mustardo evoke Roman amphorae—see previously
stairwell of the quarter: twelve months of superlative flights and storeys
beaded curtain: a look at the fragmented nature of the border wall on the US southern frontier—via Super Punch
Devised by observing a lathe demonstrating an unexpected but explainable gyroscopic effect, physicist Lรฉon Foucault first constructed his eponymous pendulum in the basement of his home on this day in 1851, bringing the experiment to the public a month later at the Meridian of the Paris Observatory. Allowing observers to conclude from the change in the plane of oscillation of a heavy weight over time the rotation of the Earth, and showing that at latitudes other than the equator the displacement of each cycle (best viewed on a very big set up) progresses relative to the turning of the Earth throughout the diurnal period. Though a long established fact that the Earth revolved, Foucault’s experiment was proof easily attainable and not necessitating watching for the minute movements of the stars and planets, rather elegantly showing that the Earth moves beneath the fixed and motionless pivot point. Such demonstrations have become popular installations at universities and museums around the world—see one in action here from a dedicated live webcam.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus Jim Henson’s custom car
seven years ago: Memento Mori, deep dreaming, Communist era interiors plus Trump’s minders
eight years ago: saccadic masking, book-culling algorithms, more links to enjoy plus literary-inspired resolutions
nine years ago: even more links
ten years ago: the last man on the Moon plus food pyramids and fad-diets
Via Kottke, we are introduced to the embroidery journals that Sophie O’Neill, California transplant in Glasgow, has been keeping daily (sometimes batched—we can relate) since New Year’s 2020 as a log of each day’s events and memories, represented by stitching a tiny icon. The practise, not dissimilar to other diary-keeping techniques and cultivating gratitude even for those mundane and tedious periods when it seems nothing noteworthy happens and was tempted to throw in the towel. Streaks are important and motivating to keep up but not for the faith of heart (see also here and here), when each entry requires patience, dexterity and imagination.
Although the only promotional tie-in video game that I can recall playing was Kool-Aid Man for Intellivision—a strange concept indeed where two waifish children search a haunted house to make a batch of Kool-Aid to summon the exorcist and stop the thirsty ghosts, “Oh yeah!”—we really enjoyed this review of early 8-bit licensed games based on British television programmes. Most of these ventures were slapdash, modular affairs that bore little resemblance to the actual show and game play was probably confusing—though through emulators, one can give all these and more a try without waiting for them to load—like this screen-grab for one based on the sitcom about four very different college students rooming together. The game-makers were not able to secure right to the series’ theme (see also) but composed a nice chip-tune alternate. Much more from Curious British Telly at the link up top.
Having rescinded the presidential decree recognising him as the patriarch of the See of Saint Mark by 
Anwar Sadat after a contentious decade for the secular and spiritual leadership of Egypt, the president seen as stoking violence between Islamic and Christian communities to solidify his own power, and banished to the remote desert monastery of St Pishoy, on this day in 1985 the successor administration of Hosni Mubarak fully restored Pope Shenouda III to his original office. Committed to ecumenism and healing religious schisms through interdenominational dialogue, Shenouda met the Bishop of Rome in 1973, the first such summit in fifteen-hundred years, and together with Pope Paul VI forged a path towards reconciliation and was also respected by the Muslim population for his support for Palestinian autonomy and criticism of the Camp David Accords—going on the serve in the papacy for over forty years, until his death in March 2012.
synchronoptica
one year ago: a survey of overused phrases (with synchronoptica), China in miniature plus the Japanese verses of Auld Lang Syne
seven years ago: a robotic DJ, Public Domain Day plus Monumental Trees
eight years ago: the assertion that progress hinges on the unreasonable
nine years ago: more accidental Renaissance art, a year in full moons plus the Twelve Days of Christmas
ten years ago: plastic coins, songs reimagined as video games, a synaesthetic clock, Martin Luther’s messaging plus motivations for the American Revolution
year of the snek: designer Japanese greeting cards for 2025—see previously from Spoon & Tamago
world record for tiny window inchoateness: Kate Wagner’s McMansion Hell takes on Neuschwanstein
cloisonnรฉ garnet: an elaborate seventh century brooch discovered near Rostock
dropped: the 2025 edition of Lake Superior State University’s banished words list, including cringe and skibidi
back to basics: scientific research confirms that exercise is the most potent medical intervention—for one’s New Year’s resolutions
dumpster fire: an ominous start for 2025
classical conditioning: the unscientific and unethical Little Albert Experiment that led to stricter standards in psychological testing
choicest swears: excellence in strong language and two other New Year’s traditions
monuments men: Italy’s cultural heritage protection squad saves artefacts from a clandestine dig in Naples
new year, new neighbourhood: the transformation of New York City’s Times Square
