four legs good, two legs bad (13. 972)

Though in my mind I at first conflated the memory with Charlotte’s Web—Templeton is not a character in the adaptation of the Orwell novella, I can recall the animated version striking as not the usual middle school cartoon fare with violent uprisings, political betrayals and a murderous regime become exactly the oppressive elements that they wanted to overthrow. Departing from the original script and with a more hopeful ending, however, we had no idea however that the 1954 production, a collaboration of husband and wife team John Halas and Joy Batchelor picked for their previous work directing documentaries for the Marshall Plan and British Ministry of Information, was secretly funded in large part by the US Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Policy Coordination, a branch of the CIA that used cultural programming to counter Communism. Distrusting American studios at the time of the Red Scare and the Hollywood blacklist, stakeholders approached British talent. The March of Time newsreel producer Louis de Rochemont was selected as a front organisation for distribution resulting in the first UK feature length animated film to receive a cinematic release—rated “U” for universal audiences, again despite its themes. In theatres, the film was a box office failure, taking fifteen years to recoup its losses, though achieving its objective of becoming a classroom staple that displaced the original work, whose narrative took a more nuanced critique of Soviet leadership and palace intrigue. The role that the CIA played in securing film rights, re-scripting the story to have the porcine politburo overthrown by other animals, and Halas’ and Batchelor’s unwitting involvement (the sensibilities of the social democrat couple would not have liked to have been duped into making propaganda), was not discovered by historians until four decades afterwards. Much more from Richard Metzger for Dangerous Minds at the link above.

the workers have nothing to lose but their chains—they have a world to win (13. 971)

With the same energy as the social justice kittens calendars (new for 2027), we enjoyed these pairings of quotations of Karl Marx with the illustrations from children’s books by Richard Scarry (see previously here and here) from writer and comedian Zach Mander—everyone’s a comedian, after dinner, in Communist society. All the juxtapositions are spot on. Which one is your favourite? Do you have a favourite saying of Marx’? The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it. More at the links above.

papa-oon-mow-mow (13. 970)

A synthesis of two originally uncredited songs by the doo-wop ground The Rivingtons, The Trashmen, having added the melody to their repertoire for their shows in the Minneapolis region, were persuaded on this day in 1963 to record and release their single Surfin’ Bird, ultimately climbing to number four on the US charts. The track was cemented in collective culture first in 1976 as the theme song for Detroit Tigers’ baseball player Mark Fidrych, nicknamed the “The Bird” over his supposed resemblance to Big Bird from Sesame Street and his antics on the field and later reintroduced through the 2008 Family Guy episode, “I Dream of Jesus.” The Emmy nominated episode where the protagonist remembers his favourite song from his childhood, much to the annoyance of his family, and discovers Christ as a record shop worker who is able to give him a copy of the single.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: more on the Soviet calendar (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: more links to enjoy plus Matt Gaetz nominated for US attorney general 

three years ago: a medieval large language model,  Predator spiders, a clever dark-sky hack plus a block-print fabric collective

four years ago: even more links worth the revisit, curb-side resistance plus a gallery of bad paperback covers

five years ago: and more links plus Hollywood Horror House (1970)

six years ago: your daily demon, ticket brokers go after medical records, Doctor Mesmer, composer Johann Zach plus US vice-presidential firsts

day two hundred forty eight (13. 969)

After days of counting ballots, the Democratic challenger Scott Colom is declared the winner of a Mississippi senate seat, the first time the office has been held by a Black individual since the Reconstruction Era following the US civil war. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns following revelations of a second affair with a subordinate with stocks of the chipmaker in free-fall. Trump suggests Huang be replaced by recent retiree Tim Apple.  Kyiv reports more disruptions to military Starlink as envoys Kushner and Witkoff meet Putin in Moscow. Trump seemingly removes JD Vance from addressing foreign policy after floating the possibility of direct peace talks and tells the vice president to focus on domestic matters. The Revolutionary Guard threatens severe reprisals for any US hostilities. IDF targets hospital complexes in Gaza, claiming Hamas are using them as human shields as Israel’s caretaker government says it is free to carry out strikes anywhere and does not need to seek the approval of the opposition. Houthis bombard Saudi refineries and pipelines.

kosmos (14. 968)

Tip of the hat to Kottke for the reminder that the joyous techno marching band MEUTE exists and the brass and percussive ensemble has recently released a new album and are touring again. “Reset” is one of the genre-crossing set pieces that untethers deep house riffs from the DJ turntable and out into the crowd—the meaning of the band’s name.  MEUTE also participates in international outreach programmes like Musicians without Borders and will accompany activists rallying against right-wing demonstrtators.

don’t try to run—i can keep up with you (13. 967)

Released on this day in 1986 as the lead single from the artist’s third studio album True Blue, the track, originally titled “Follow Your Heart” was written for Cyndi Lauper and shopped around to The Temptations before being demoed to Madonna’s production team, the artist herself workshopping and rewriting the lyrics. Innuendo far from implicit and rather daring for the time, the song’s overt sexual yearning and depiction of a little boy trying to sneak into a peep-show was controversial though not an impediment to its commercial success. Madonna’s performance was inspired by Liza Minnelli’s from the 1972 cinematic adaptation of Cabaret.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Cthulucene epoch (with synchronoptica) plus US Democratic senators cave on the shutdown showdown

 

two years ago: a tribute to both the death of Leonard Cohen and the death of US democracy, a needlecraft sampler declared a national treasure plus more on the Frankfurt kitchen

 

three years ago: James Burke’s Connections plus Remembrance Sunday

 

four years ago: an alternate photo of the Loch Ness monster, Gemini XII, the invention of the World Wide Web plus the debut of Absolutely Fabulous (1992)

 

five years ago: trapeze artist Jules Léotard, Monsters, Inc., a very Squid Games Christmas, a foggy walk in the woods plus the science of sericulture

 

six years ago: a concert for a reunited Berlin (1989) plus imagining the Trump Presidential Library

seven years ago: an ideal time to go to Mars, Possibly in Michigan (1983), casting to Hell plus a psychedelic ad for movie refreshments

eight years ago: a 1929 Ralph Steiner short on water, women’s suffrage in Austria (1918) plus RIP Douglas Rain

 

day two hundred forty seven (13. 966)

A US federal judge allows Trump’s ten billion dollar defamation suit, for implicating that Trump encouraged the January Sixth rioters to storm the Capitol, against the BBC to proceed—though under UK law, the plaintiff must appear in court for deposition. The White House threatens Democratic lawmakers with criminal investigations if they carry through with their promises to subpoena and investigate cabinet officials and other allies of the American president, whom has definitely retracted his earlier statements of accepting the outcome of the midterm election. Housing and cost living crisis prompt a general strike in Spain, with millions of workers walking off the job. Parliamentary speaker Ghalibaf and chief negotiator says Washington must announce their decision on Tehran’s latest proposal, as Vance and Rubio argue over peace or a continued naval blockade and Trump adds that the US did not start the war and Iran and America have been fighting since 1979. Ukrainian drones disable more Russian refineries. Saudi backed forces of the Yemeni regulars push back on the Houthi advance.

panopticon (13. 965)

Architecture studio SpY has installed a temporary monolithic intervention in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles, the stark black triangle juxtaposing with the Art Nouveau façade of the palace—formerly home to the capital’s main post office and telegraph service—to encourage public dialogue, through obstruction of established lines-of-site of the historic square, forcing passersby to reposition their bodies or their cameras and viewing portholes, peepholes of CCTV feeds of the immediate surroundings, about urban surveillance and digital tracking. Though to a degree, we’ve all opted-in to this monitoring and superintendence for convenience but we also were not allowed to give informed consent.