perfect for roquefort cheese

day two hundred forty one (13. 951)

2026-11-05T23:30:00.000+01:00

Tehran, through Qatari intermediaries, reportedly sends a nuclear compromise to Washington for review whilst awaiting the seven original conditions as agreed in the MoU to be satisfied. The American president says that the rest of Iran may be destroyed with rebuilding taking a quarter of a century. Civil defence chief Gholamreza Jalali formulates an emergency economic plan in case of renewed Israeli-US aggression. The Revolutionary Guard asserts that any country helping or hosting American forces is a legitimate target. Midterm election results present a new calculus for the Knesset to build a coalition government, informing negotiations. Trump issues a reminder that he is still in charge, whilst Secretary of War Hegseth announces he is unimpeachable.

7x7 (13. 950)

2026-11-05T07:43:50.155+01:00

elder gods: the menacing Neo-Pagan illustrations of Marian Wawrzenski

random walk: the digits of pi—see previously here and here and here

the greater trumps: the supernatural thrillers of Charles Williams and their cover art by Jim Lamb

l.a. law: court sketches from Parisian magistrates—see also

third place: Chinese Starbucks franchises announce a purchase requirement for hanging out and enforces a no loitering policy

never tell me the odds: a scifi short in which a stranded rebel tries to make his way back to friendly territory whilst contending with the nagging AI agent implanted in his brain

die sammlung prinzhorn: a revisit of the Outsider Art of the Heidelberg mental institution—see previously

synchronoptica

one year ago: Uptown Girl (with synchronoptica), US supreme court strikes down Trump tariffs plus a campaign to reduce food waste

two years ago: America votes, Trump and Guy Fawkes plus medieval produce in art

three years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, a word of the year: AI plus another MST3K classic

four years ago: the Gun Powder Plot, a Commodore accordion, more McMansion Hell plus a Wikipedia list of common fallacies

five years ago: the Saint Felix Flood (1530)

six years ago: a tri-lingual dictionary (1499), a flashpoint labour strike (1916), a séance on a wet afternoon plus the Rebel Rabbit GIF

seven years ago: more on Guy Fawkes, Voyager 2 leaves the Solar System, ghoulish guacamole plus Facebook’s shift to the right

eight years ago: representative Shirley Chisholm, an ancient boardgame, photographer Denise Scott Brown, words for the Winter Blues plus mapping the US mid-terms

day two hundred forty (13. 949)

2026-11-04T23:30:00.000+01:00

Stock markets surge and the price of oil plunges as Trump may now “be inclined” to end hostilities in Iran though the American president remains unwilling to accept defeat in his war of choice as Iran marks the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.

The Supreme Leader dismisses the suggestion that the seismic shift in the US political landscape signals a significant change for hostilities but the new composition of congress could have net positives for geopolitics and marks a historical overturning not seen in generations if ever, with Georgia, Florida, Nevada and Wisconsin electing Black governors, New Mexico a Native American woman, and California and Texas with more firsts for female, LGBTQ and Muslim representation and many states and polities, particularly in the Midwest, like Kansas and Ohio, and the southern Sun Belt changing parties for the first time in decades and reversals unseen since the Reconstruction Era after the civil war. Democratic leaders reflect on what the dismantling of MAGA through elections means for their agenda and way forward once the new congress is sworn in.

copy shop (13. 948)

2026-11-04T10:16:25.825+01:00

Through the lens of his 2001 short film—in correspondence with his next project, we are introduced to internationally acclaimed Austrian filmmaker Virgil Widrich considered a parable on the ease of duplication, with or without degradation and loss of fidelity, and identity at the cusp of the digital age. After a copy shop employee accidentally photocopies hand, the machine, either through magic or malfunction, begin to reproduce fragments of his life that eventually result in the clerk encountering clones of himself until the entire world is populated by his imperfect duplicates. Whilst not an animated feature, the technique behind its production does traffic with cartoons and is a recursive statement, footage shot initially on a digital camera, edited and then printed frame-by-frame and re-filmed as a succession of photographs. Though using modern office equipment, mimeographs, carbon-paper and ditto machines, means of reproduction that involved the destruction of the original copy were living memories and the reel captures the misprints and breakdown over the course of the film—early days but also speaking to the nature of democratised self-publishing awash in repetition and derivatives, cheapening the value of the information, experience or artefact with inexact replicas. More from { feuilleton } at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a Bayesian analysis of Mambo Number Five (with synchronoptica), patent pending plus NYC elects a new mayor

two years ago: Saint Carlo Borromeo plus reimagining Slaughterhouse Five

three years ago: worthless NFTs redeemable as grocery store coupons plus leap seconds

four years ago: the discovery of King Tut’s tomb (1922) plus assorted links to revisit

five years ago: haikus on the Periodic Table plus a competition to replace Laocoön’s lost arm

six years ago: the folk etymologies of the hangover

seven years ago: a protest rally and ultimatum in East Berlin, Pigovian subsidies plus the science of voting

eight years ago: back at the scent lab, a love letter to the US Library of Congress plus more links to enjoy

day two hundred thirty nine (13. 947)

2026-11-03T23:30:00.000+01:00

Votes are still being counted in the US midterm elections, but it seems clear already, even observing the cautionary prognosis of some poll-watchers that due to Democrats’ penchant for early voting, a Blue Wave might prove to be a mirage, with the opposition flipping senate seats in South Carolina and Texas, for the first time in thirty-three years (I remember that at a campaign even in Texarkana, then governor Ann Richards wished me a happy birthday, so we know it was long, long ago). Trump admonished people to vote as if he were on the ballot and they are responding in the strongest possible way with an uncensored repudiation of MAGA and his last decade in politics. Democrats are poised to take both houses of congress with majority control—remaining to be seen if that will be a veto proof one. Troy Jackson defeats long serving senator Susan Collins in Maine and Abdul El-Sayed wins in Michigan, despite enormous donations, mostly from Elon Musk, and gerrymandered redistricting. First claiming polling numbers were wrong and fake news and then proceeding to tell Israel that it will no longer receive military aid from America (four billion dollars annually) on election day and launching ballistics at Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz as four tankers strike naval mines and are set ablaze, Trump then shifts blame to the Iran war, which he started, for GOP losses.

i, mudd (13. 946)

2026-11-03T22:00:00.000+01:00

As our faithful chronicler reminds, on this day in 1967, the Enterprise had their second run-in with conman Harry Mudd (see previously, see also) after an android posing as a crew member hijacks the Enterprise, routing them to an unknown planet populated by androids, lorded over by Mudd I as apparent monarch, including a simulacrum of departed, nagging wife whom he can mute on command. Mudd reveals that he arrived on this world by chance and is treated well but he is refused leave to depart until or unless he can provide the automatons more masters to study and serve, for which the crew is offered. Although tempting by various standards and accounts, Kirk implores senior staff not to be fooled by obsequiousness and remember their duty to their mission of exploration and one another. Spock directs Kirk and Mudd to confuse the androids with contradictory and illogical statements, finally presenting a form of the liar’s paradox to the original hijacker, whom the science officer determined was not just a scout or emissary but the central locus of their collective mind. This feedback loop causes the main android to short-circuit, disabling the others. The androids are reprogrammed aligned with their original task of making the planet productive, Mudd paroled to the remain among the synthetic population, who no longer cater to his every wish. The episode was cowritten and directed by David Gerrold and Stephan Kandel, the collaborators who earlier produced “The Trouble with Tribbles” and is consistently ranked among the best storylines from Star Trek: TOS.

algorithmic bias (13. 945)

2026-11-03T19:11:12.300+01:00

We are reminded of this rather infamous exemplar of stereotypical reinforcement per machine translation by Quantum of Sollazzo. Although, of late, the platform claims to have solved the inherent chauvinism by a disclaimer that addresses the limitations of translating a gendered language, the fact that relatively neutral English output informed by the inclusive Hungarian personal pronoun, ő meaning she or he or they that is often considered redundant except in cases for contrast or emphasis as the actor, without respect to sex, is carried by verb conjugation, and demonstrates that traditional roles still haunt machine translation and the datasets that they draw from.

living daylights (13. 944)

2026-11-03T15:45:22.554+01:00

Courtesy of Weird Universe, we are directed to the exploits of a start-up called Reflect Orbital, which demonstrates its potential to offer “sunlight as a service” claiming to be able to redirect sunbeams, intensity adjustable from “noon to moon” via an array of fifty thousand satellites equipped with mirrors, illuminating a five kilometre radius. The chain of reflective material could sustain the beam as individual satellites drift away and continue targetting with the next one in the chain. Whilst the company is pretty chuffed about this advance in geo-engineering, usually such proposals are subject to serious debate prior to execution, if they get off the ground at all, pointing out how the technology could be used to extend the operating day of photovoltaic generators indefinitely, light up industrial sites, aid in nighttime search and rescue missions or even for agriculture. Their enthusiasm is not shared by the scientific community who see this network as another blow for ground based astronomy (see previously) and further begs the question of vesting such power in a for-profit company and whether one enterprise or community’s access to daylight savings might be throttled for the sake of a higher bidder.

upstaged (13. 943)

2026-11-03T05:45:56.080+01:00

Beating out other contenders like p(doom), the probability that AI will destroy civilisation, ghost jobs, vacancies with no intention to fill them, friendslop and carspreading,
the jury at Collins Dictionary has selected mogging as its Word of the Year to describe the performative act of manifesting dominance through self-evident prowess or good looks and the feelings of inferiority and comparison it can engender in others. Though originally circulated among incel culture, it has shed those more toxic associations as it has come into common parlance, reclaimed by polite society and is believed to be a derivation of AMOG—or “alpha male of the group”—combined with mugging as in mug shot and has come to generally mean the relatable experience of wavering confidence contrasted with our perceived social betters.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Ford’s political purge of 1975 (with synchronoptica), the Fenton Label Company, The Pleasure Garden (1925) plus all of Star Trek: TNG in three-second bites

two years ago: Kamala Harris and her avatar appear on SNL plus the Japanese instrument of surrender (1946)

three years ago: Snarkmarket Day, assorted links worth the revisit plus the Waxweb

four years ago: another classic from Enya, Saint Hubertus plus assorted links to revisit

five years ago: a classification of creatives, another MST3K classic plus more links to enjoy

six years ago: the November Revolution that led to the formation of the Weimar Republic plus Carrie (1976)

seven years ago: a pervasive number from Rusted Root, more awful library books plus an embarrassment of social media platforms

eight years ago: Nixon’s Silent Majority plus a trip through the Rhön

never promised you a rose garden (13. 942)

2026-11-02T20:13:45.483+01:00

Though leading by wide margins according to polling after his securing his party’s nomination, Jimmy Carter’s edge over incumbent Gerald Ford evaporated, despite blunders and missteps and the unpopular pardoning of Nixon, to near even and the electoral vote was the closest since 1916, but once all the votes were tallied over night and into the next morning, it was revealed that the challenger, portraying himself as a reformer “untainted” by Washington as opposed to his opponent’s strategy of being an experienced insider, had prevailed and won the US presidency on this day in 1976. Though only taking twenty three states (plus DC) and garnering just under three hundred electors whilst winning the overall popular vote, Carter’s percentage was just above the threshold for victory—sweeping the South, Midwest, Texas (the last first and last times many of these precincts voted for a Democrat) and most of the Eastern Seaboard, Ford conceding at 03:30 in the morning and telephoning his congratulations to at 11:00.

day two hundred thirty eight (13. 941)

2026-11-02T06:00:00.000+01:00

Russia begins construction on a massive radar array in the exclave of Kaliningrad. European supermarkets refrigeration systems once again are disabled by a cyberattack. Houthi rebels strike the airport of Dammam in Saudi Arabia. Iranian foreign minister Araghchi says that Tehran is prepared for either diplomacy or military confrontation with the US and Israel as indirect talks continue. The Supreme Leader gives permission for the negotiations. The massing of American forces and assets in the Persian gulf causes many to conclude that a resumption in fighting is inevitable and could start this week. IDF demolishes homes in southern Lebanon as air raids remain ongoing. Abdullah II, the king of Jordan, reiterates that there can be no stability and security in the region without a Palestinian homeland.

synchronoptica

one year ago: South Korea gives Trump a crown (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: private language creation among twins, the Collins’ Direction Word of the Year, more links to enjoy, caesaropapism plus the Balfour Agreement of 1917

three years ago: a trove of tintypes from western Massachusetts plus even more links

four years ago: the Morris Worm (1988), Simpsons Albums plus in praise of phrase books

five years ago: a treasury of neologisms, US president Warren G Harding plus an art storage facility opens its doors to the public

six years ago: your daily demon: Vine, a board game about the US electoral college, the first BBC high-definition television broadcast (1936) plus Hartfield’s Landing revisited

seven years ago: Party Like It’s 1999, a historic bar in Singapore plus more shadow puppets

eight years ago: artist Piet Mondrian, assorted links to revisit plus more on the first residents of the International Space Station

who’s maxxing now? (13. 940)

2026-11-01T18:51:01.495+01:00

Rising to the top of its shortlist of contenders, including affordability, data centres, odyssey and unc—a clipping from African American vernacular for uncle and transformed into the new pronouncement of “OK Boomer” or being out of touch—the term for optimisation of a pursuit and all its derivatives was selected as the Dictionary.com Word of the Year. Whilst not a new concept or coinage, Will Smith was “maxin’ and relaxin’” already as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the idea has been used since the 1940s for game theory, we’ve all seemingly been consigned to slang, willingly or not, that has its origins in the incel community, privileging appearance through looksmaxxing above all else, the affix mainstreamed in its versatility and applicability—speaking more to the drive to keep jonesing for the Jones’, having a certain etymological pedigree but up for infinite personalisation, more freedom from influencers is in on the horizon. Those lethalitymaxxers gooning for the Pentagon can be the first boots on the ground and possibly cause the buzzy trend to fizzle out so we are no longer held captive by it.

day two hundred thirty seven (13. 939)

2026-11-01T17:04:47.131+01:00

Reversing an earlier announcement of tele-rallies, Trump is attending campaign events in the final days before the midterm elections in once bulwarks of the GOP, Kansas and Iowa, that have turned into battlegrounds over his unpopularity and poor handling of the economy and foreign relations. It is very much in the Republican playbook to crash the break the budget and sever diplomatic ties, after inheriting stability, and leave it to the Democrats to clean up the chaos and get the blame for the sabotage and slow turn-around. Meanwhile, the media is too fixated on the run-off between Dans Sullivan in Alaska to address the allegation that Trump raped Miss Switzerland or how the administration purchased a vote-tabulation machine to reverse engineer it and exploit vulnerabilities through AI-aided hacking. Palestinian vice president Hussein al-Sheikh holds high level talks with European delegates, accusing the IDF of targeting Gazan police officers and urging the perpetrators of violence be held accountable. Iranian foreign minister Araghchi awaits US response on their framework for reopening Hormuz. King Charles arrives in Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Conference and apologies for the UK’s slave trading past, though prime minister Burnham does not believe that reparations should be on the table. The Anglican communion, whose clergy also owned enslaved individuals, has independently established a fund of one hundred million pounds for affected communities and research into the legacy of Britain’s role in the transatlantic trade.

estado libre asociado (13. 938)

2026-11-01T06:00:00.000+01:00

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)

2026-10-31T23:35:00.000+01:00

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)

2026-10-31T23:30:00.000+01:00

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)

2026-10-31T18:20:31.891+01:00

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)

2026-10-31T07:02:11.556+01:00

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)

2026-10-30T23:30:00.000+01:00

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)

2026-10-30T20:52:39.386+01:00

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)

2026-10-30T19:02:17.537+01:00

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.

юзнет (13. 930)

2026-10-30T06:23:46.693+01:00

Having examined before the failure of the Soviet internet, once neck and neck with the inchoate ARPANET with the Politburo developing a comprehensive and ambitious programme to streamline and upgrade the entire planned economy that was ultimately derailed, preempted by problems that wouldn’t plague its Western competition until recently—see previously, see also—we enjoyed this investigation on how telepathy (a pursuit of both sides of the Iron Curtain) informed networking and connectivity in Russia and with the rest of the world. Whilst the belief in or privileging of the paranormal cannot be shown to be the cause of the Soviets’ backsliding in the tech-race—the Space Bridges linking communities in the East and the West live were Russian innovations regarded with skepticism as trickery by the US—the parallel to the current attitudes and factionalism regarding the potential of artificial intelligence are interesting to consider—AI and psychic powers might be equal amounts of woo and hype—with the roles reversed and sceptics and true-believers alternately told they’ll be the ones left behind, depending one one’s perspective and who one asks, magical or mere parlour-tricks. Both sides had their evangelists and zealots then as now—with the web and its linkages a surrogate for the promise of mind-reading and mesmerism. More from JSTOR Daily at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica), Tsar Bomba (1961) plus the Solvay Congress of 1927

two years ago: the Park of Monsters, more links to enjoy, Ford turns his back on NYC, Trump and the stock market, the Rumble in the Jungle plus a poem for the battle-worn

three years ago: even more assorted links

four year ago: drawing with Ed Emberley plus more links to revisit

five years ago: another MST3K classic—The Brain that Wouldn’t Die, more links to enjoy plus artist William-Adolphe Bourguereau

six years ago: the first residents board the International Space Station (2000), more on murderous dioramas, a wizarding curriculum from 1925 plus star charts for the yet to be born

seven years ago: East German counter-programming, Brexit postponed plus the lost dative case

eight years ago: stochastic terrorism, folksonomy, corporate fairy tales, birthright citizenship plus “Egyptian” Rocky Horror

day two hundred thirty four (13. 929)

2026-10-29T23:30:00.000+01:00

The Revolutionary Guard reports that three tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz have hit sea mines and catch fire as Houthi rebels claim six strikes on Saudi airports and oil fields. Iranian lawmakers urge the Supreme Leader to authorise atomic bomb development. Moscow offers to act as mediator between Tehran and Washington, if requested. France braces for potential violence for planned weekend protest rallies.

new zoo revue (13. 928)

2026-10-29T20:50:26.473+01:00

The recursively named Louisiana Hospital for the Insane of Louisiana, established in 1906 on the grounds of a formerly segregated facility “to accommodate the insane of both races” and to provide relief for the overburdened state prison system, still in operation today, is exemplary of a shift in in-patient care that informed the craft and occupational therapy associated with mental institutions of the era, spanning from Victorian attitudes of enlightenment and outreach to Mid-Century Modern journaling. Via Messy Nessy’s Cabinet, we are directed toward a weekly newsletter published by inmates, Hospital Banner—containing news, observations and various submissions from patients with light editorial control from staff.

my supper is late—i want my turnips (13. 927)

2026-10-29T10:39:25.017+01:00

Courtesy of Fancy Notions, we are introduced to the British children’s educational programme Words and Pictures through this 1975 episode “Pigs and Pumpkins”—which does agreedly give a certain Teletubbies energy and allure in its presentation and repetition that one could just zone out to—to practise the letter p and cut out a jack-o’-lantern face to scare off Halloween witches and goblins. There is a bit of unintended cozy terror in the delivery, hosted and voicing all characters, in jarringly different styles from Clutch Cargo style lazy animation to rather involved stop-motion, by Charles O’Rourke, police dispatcher from Z Cars. The more terrifying, haunting aspect to us was the unbidden automated transcript, enjoyably still bad like misheard lyrics, and how the short programme is divided into chapters, just as a classic arc of narrative with a setup and exposition, conflict with players learning through negative reinforcement, dénouement and resolution—an unnecessary structural analysis putting it and everything else on par with the great tragedians—they’re doing this for podcasts of every category as well. Hop… hop… hop…

* * * * *

synchronoptica

one year ago: asteroid 951 Gaspar (with synchronoptica) plus the coinage of neurodiversity

two years ago: a mascot for the Vatican plus IKEA acknowledges forced labour in East Germany

three years ago: Don Giovanni (1787), an undergraduate thesis on ASCII art plus a devilish ball

four years ago: places lived and just past through plus a last day in Crete

five years ago: Constantine’s victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Orinoco Flow (1988), a Mario marathon, celebrating a Renault classic, a collection of horror GIFs plus the end of the Salem Witch Trials

six years ago: assorted links to revisit plus referring to parents by the names of their offspring

seven years ago: the political alignments of Mario Kart characters

eight years ago: Italy battles the EU over its fiscal policy, Merkel to not run again for party chair, synthetic traditional Chinese medicine plus more on Angela Merkel stepping down