so it goes (11. 973)

Illustrator Igor Karash reimagines the disassociation and chiaroscuro of Kurt Vonnegut’s classic Slaughterhouse-Five, following protagonist Billy Pilgrim’s time-jumps across a far-flung utopian planet, a mundane existence as a suburban eye-doctor and World War II Dresden during the fire-bombing. The commission coming as Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, Karash drew from his experiences of reluctant, ridiculous conscription and connections to a besieged land, finding Vonnegut’s message and mantra PEOPLE DO NOT LEARN FROM THEIR PAST particularly resonant—also drawing from his many readings of the author’s work, being available in translation in the Soviet Union by dent of his criticism of the West and anti-war message.

sancarlone (11. 972)

Fêted on this day, following the sainted Milanese archbishop’s death in 1538, Carlo Borromeo, is celebrated for his reforms and the introduction of seminaries for the education of priests as a force, along with Ignatius Loyola, of the Counter-Reformation. Though we didn’t make it to his home town of Arona to see the colossal bronze created in his likeness during the seventeenth century on a recent visit to Lake Maggiore (at twenty metres tall, the world’s largest statue of the kind second only to the Statue of Liberty and hollow on the inside for visits up to the head), we did see some of his family’s other properties. Carlo’s patronage ranges from the obvious catechists and spiritual directors to the more obscure apple orchards and starch-makers and is invoked against a range of stomach diseases and digestive ailments.

 synchronoptica

one year ago: a German supermarket chain allows customers trade worthless NFTs for coupons (with synchronoptica) plus leap minutes and seconds

seven years ago: electric VM mini-buses

eight years ago: statues celebrating women’s suffrawicker ge in the US Capitol, Türkiye requests rendition of disloyals in Germany, a magazine for discerning sweater-wearers plus self-repairing materials

nine years ago: assorted links worth revisiting plus the wicker peacock chair

ten years ago: DNA is not life’s only blueprint, charivari plus the Fall of Rome

stratocracy (11. 971)

Coming into force six months later as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution of 1890, the current supreme law of Japan was promulgated on this day in 1946, drafted primarily by American civilian officials of the occupation after the country’s unconditional surrender. The document provides for certain fundamental human rights and the supremacy of the parliament (the national Diet, favouring the British model though eliminating peerage with the upper house, like the House of Lords, formerly restricted to the nobility), reducing the role of the emperor to a symbolic head of state with only a ceremonial role. Also referred to as the Peace Constitution (Heiwa-Kenpō, 平和憲法), its composition was supervised by Douglas MacArthur with input from Japanese scholars and subject matter experts, Article 9 renounces the country’s right towage war or raise armies despite its military capabilities and sending forces in presence of a substantial American military presence. Sovereignty restored in 1952, attempts for further revision were frustrated over a number of legal hurdles and the requirements for change built into the system.

top of the rock (11. 960)

In a surprise cameo appearance, Kamala Harris appeared as dressing room mirror reflection of the comedian, Maya Rudolf, who reprised her role on Saturday Night Live after Harris became the candidate for a mutual pep-talk. After a day spent campaigning in the battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina, Harris took an unannounced detour to New York City, her plan to be in the show’s cold open kept a secret until after the motorcade arrived at the studios in Rockefeller Plaza—a kilometre away from Trump’s past venue. “I’m going to vote for us!” Rudolph proclaimed at the end of the sketch—to which Harris countered, “Any chance you’re registered in Pennsylvania?”

synchronoptica

one year ago: an occasional blog at twenty (with synchronoptica) assorted links worth the revisit plus a psychedelic collage by William S Burroughs (1991)

seven years ago: Germany’s Facebook Law, Dalí’s The Wines of Gala plus internet tarot

eight years ago: exoskeletons plus assorted things entering their fourth decade

nine years ago: November holidays and observances

eleven years ago: a visit to Delitzsch 

the balfour agreement (11. 959)

In anticipation of control of Mandatory Palestine from the Ottoman Empire as a result of ongoing negotiation and with the express understanding that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities,” the British government proclaimed its support of a “national home for the Jewish people” in a missive from Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfoud to Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild on this day in 1917. The pledge to this community leader appeared in the press a week later. First drafted three years earlier to secure Jewish support in a wider war by appealing to ambitions for statehood, an exploratory committee was launched by Sir Mark Sykes (see above) but without consultation with the local Palestinian population. Although Israel did come into existence until after World War II concluded (the term used, “national home” was intentionally ambiguous and had no basis in international law, unclear how it might manifest, as a republic, a territory within the mandate or a spiritual centre), the declaration of support (with approval from the US and other Allies) strengthened the movement and has led to one of the most intractable geopolitical situations of the twentieth century and beyond.

caesaropapism (11. 958)

Entailing the complete subordination of priests to a secular power, both this form of government and a theocracy admit no separation of church and state and the two aspects of power structure are merged. Though far too many contemporary theonomies whereby divine law governs society, the Holy See, Mount Athos, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Tibet—with more confessional states with an officially endorsed creed—exist, examples of caesaropapism are hypothetical and confined, arguably, to the past with Byzantium’s emperors (and successor sultans under the Ottomans) administrating the Eastern church and appointing patriarchs (the inversion of the Roman pope crowning the emperor), the break of Henry VIII with Rome and following dissolution of the monasteries and the Act of Supremacy and Ivan IV (earning the epithet the Terrible) through his total subjugation of the Orthodox Church as an instrument of state terror against traitors, real and imagined—though not without encountering some resistance and whose independence was restored by the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, though again retooled to varying degrees under the Soviet Union and inheritors. Though mostly confined to history (there are instances of mild to blatant use of the pulpit as soapbox), the careerism and ambition still hold sway in matters of the sacred.

10x10 (11. 957)

þjappað vinnuviku: Iceland’s experiment with a shorted working week  

dénouement: examining the kishōtenketsu arc of narrative and its structure in world literature 

indirect allorecognition: injured comb jellies will fuse with another to allow one to heal—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest

climate solutions: just a shower thought probably better shared on this website, could we reduce CO₂ concentration by making the atmosphere bigger?  

celestial symphony: the icon and ingrained theme from the 1986 Chinese television adaptation of Journey to the West—see previously  

oracles of astrampsychus: ancient tools of divantion included drawing lots, bibliomancy and a sort of algorithm—via Strange Company  

goonies in space: the latest Star Wars spinoff, Skeleton Crew  

denaturalised: Elon Musk could have his US citizenship revoked if it’s confirmed that he lied on his immigration application—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

the gaudí of mita: Keisuke Oka’s hand-built tower, the Arimaston Building in east Tokyo  

sweethearting: AI-powered facial recognition monitors for suspicious friendliness between customers and staff may be the next phase in retail security theatre

woty 2024 (11. 956)

The namesake neologism from the British artist Charli XCX’ phenomenal studio album (which lived a life of its own over the summer) and entered into common parlance has been selected as Collins Dictionaries Word of the Year—see previously. Resonating globally, it is defined as someone having a “confident, independent and hedonistic attitude,” whereas the performer, unapologetically, interprets it a bit differently as someone who is “honest, blunt and a little bit volatile,” reflecting the records’ tracks that deal with the topics of personal strength, womanhood, addiction and vulnerability. The slimy green colour and font of the album’s cover became an easy identifier on social media and injected itself into the contentious US presidential campaign, with surprise candidate vice president Kamala Harris quickly altering her election website’s header to the recognisable theme. Other contenders under consideration were supermajority, anti-tourism, looksmaxxing (specifically male grooming, fitness and diet trends to optimise one’s appearance) and the hybrid literary genre of romantasy.