the battle of guantánamo bay (13. 500)

After four days of fighting, a battalion of US marines, conducting training exercises in the Florida Keys whilst awaiting orders, on this day in 1898 landed in the strategically chosen, for protection during hurricane season, forward operating base in the commercially important harbour to begin the liberation of Cuba from the Spanish with invasion and subsequent occupation. Though regular forces and pro-colonialists guerrilla fighters held Guantánamo City, the railhead and nearby sugar mills, the American forces, four companies of around six hundred-fifty men, arrived without opposition on the ridge above a fishing village, burning down the huts and a blockhouse—noting that the only sound to be heard was peaceful cooing of mourning doves, later learning that it was a signal used amongst partisans. Despite some resistance, the marines and pro-independence fighters were able to rout Spanish forces. America established GITMO in this location and has leased the property ever since from the Cuba government, though no remittances have been deposited.

9x9 (13. 499)

of all the us presidents he’s still the mussoliniest: Randy Rainbow reprises his rendition of the Major General’s Song, see previously—via Miss Cellania  

twenty-first century nightmares: Bill Hsu presents a collection of dark animated films 

hello dalí: a marginally remastered copy of the bizarre 1973 ITV profile of the artist surfaces on Youtube  

éolienne: an innovative nineteenth century redesign for the windmill  

responding with improvisation and exhaustion: meeting the subliterate where they are is a disservice to education  

necropolis: marine researchers discover the site of a whale fall in a deep rift valley of the Indian ocean  

guest-starring in alphabetical order: Poseidon’s Underworld on the short-lived 1984 television series Glitter about the cast of a glossy magazine  

the meatseller: an harrowing and brutal animation of a young migrant’s journey from Nigeria to Italy 

 there was nothing in al capone’s vault but it wasn’t geraldo’s fault: premiere episode of America’s history in one hundred objects (see also) begins with an underwhelming time capsule opened in 1976

this is my island (13. 498)

Aeon magazine directs our attention to a 1972 segment from the BBC documentary series Look, Stranger that portrays a more measured, conservative perspective of self-sufficiency and off-grid living (see also) with this tour of Herm, a small Channel Island (the perfect size) depopulated and fallen into disrepair during World War II, some twenty years into the experimental community after Major Peter Wood and his wife Jenny became tenants of the bailiwick (from the Old French for hermit) between Sark and Guernsey. Some of the utopian idealism seems to have faded but Helm is still held in trust to this day.

day one-hundred-two (13. 497)

Initially unconvinced of the need for retaliatory strikes on Iran after the downing of a US Apache helicopter gunship, unclear if the crash was really the result of enemy fire, Trump changed his mind over the possible Tonkin ghost, after talking with his military advisors and unironically channeling a 2000 clip from an episode of the West Wing regarding the virtue of a disproportional response, ordered targeting (including reservoirs supplying drinking water) whilst Iran attacked US sites in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. Other members of the US administration are downplaying the significance of their posture of self-defence, insisting that the ceasefire still holds.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Bic Cristal (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: a visit to Genoa

thirteen years ago: blockupy rallies, Italian traffic signs, a duty-free enclave, dragnet surveillance plus the city of Como 

fourteen years ago: conserving endangered sounds 

fifteen years ago: the Bilderberg conference 

seventeen years ago: a Roman holiday 

6x6 (13. 496)

epistolary: a profile of one of China’s last working Qiaopi writers (侨批) who sends letters and remittances to relatives overseas 

robert tyzyczhowzswiski is asking the court to change his cognomen: the trials and tribulations of legal stenographers—see also  

gonzo and camilla: revisiting emperor Honorius, chicken fancier  

inter esperantistoj; the undying dream of the universal language—see previously—via Web Curios  

post-hoc rationalisation: more lawyers get in trouble for reliance on AI 

fountain of knowledge: Japanese quiz culture was shaped by the post-war US occupation

day one-hundred-one (13. 495)

Israeli defence forces order a forced evacuation of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre ahead of impending airstrikes, as Trump promises that a deal with Iran is close and the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened in two or three days. Meanwhile Hezbollah officials urge Beirut to forge closer ties with Tehran and exit US-sponsored peace talks, which the paramilitary political party regards as a surrender. The IDF and Iran have called a separate truce to the fighting, contingent upon Israel refraining from further incursions into Lebanon—as the US administration admits that whilst Washington and Tel Aviv have many shared goals for peace in the Middle East, interests diverge at points and Israel has its own agenda beyond preventing Iranian nuclear ambitions.

unstable geometries (13. 494)

We appreciated the introduction to abstract artist Sanford Wurmfeld whose studies in shifting hues and tones across large scale grids explore the act of perception and mood as a function of the time it takes to look at something. His installations of cycloramas and wall-mounted works are methodical and precise and are to my mind the opposite of optical illusion—no trickery or fatigue which sets no mood. Crediting the works of Josef Albers and Mark Rothko as his influncers, Wurmfeld is considered a co-founder of the Hunter Colour School, a heuristic for the phenomenology of the transformative effect on the viewer. More from Hyperallergic at the link above and the artist’s website.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the death of Nero (with synchronopticæ) plus California national guard activated against the governor’s will

twelve years ago: a visit to Pisa 

thirteen years ago: returning from Lake Como 

fifteen years ago: credible sources plus gin and garnish

sixteen years ago: austerity measures in Germany plus oil spill impact zones

seventeen years ago: banking secrecy  

gated reverb (13. 493)

Celebrating accidental discoveries, Clive Thompson’s latest Linkfest explores how Phil Collins inadvertently invented the signature sound of 1980s drumming whilst in collaboration with Peter Gabriel, the artificial muffler quintessentially demonstrated in the iconic bridge to his “In the Air Tonight.” The natural reverberation of the percussion is clipped, booming and punchy but not bleeding into the next beat—something even the most skilled could not accomplish without the ambient audio processing technique, illustrating how mixing and sampling factors into the perceived purity of acoustics and record takes, like with the airbrushing and editing we expect for images nowadays. In addition to Collins’ solo career, the effect was also embraced by Prince, Psychedelic Furs, Kate Bush and Duran Duran, the effect eventually falling out of favour but experiencing a resurgence.