Sketch

He entered a
number of nearby
homes, & surprised
with his ability to
give piano lessons.

songlines

curious & obscure

Laying it alongside of a
call for collective action

means it is not an actual
carving unless supported

by other evidence or by
muscles that make sounds.

Django

Seismic Performance

Use case studies to isolate
a single locale to exhibit
multiple motions, then segue

into an ancient Chinese secret
over 5000 years old, that YSL
lovers wake up & go to bed

wearing his clothes. That
since his passing many of
them now feel like orphans.

the muses

wednesday newstrip

New Zealand scientists are breeding sheep to fart & burp less · Kim Jong-un ‘begged for summit with T®ump on his knees’ according to Ruby Jewel-leilani who, at the time, was also down on his knees giving the precedent a blowjob · broccoli coffee: scientists hope powdered veg can improve diets, cut down crop waste · Facebook confirms data sharing with Chinese companies including Huawei · Sydney Harbor Bridge disappears: mystery dinosaur skeleton sells for $3 million at Paris auction.

I remarked on this

in the days of Bush. Even more appropriate when I re-remarked on it last year. As the days go by, that last paragraph becomes more & more appropriate for our times.

“The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even a mob with him by the force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second or third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.

“The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

—H.L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920

wednesday newstrip

What’s new in the latest Apple iphone update? — 'don't roast marshmallows over a volcano', warns US geological survey · frozen Pluto has wind-blown dunes made of methane sand · most of your vitamin supplements really are useless, says huge new study · ancient reptile fossil Megachirella pushes origin of lizards back 75 million years · ‘I am not a racist’: Roseanne Barr goes on the attack again, with Michelle Obama in her sights · DoNuts T®ump says North Korea meetings 'very positive,' but don't waste your money · poo has been mysteriously raining from the sky in Canada, leaving cars “inundated” with excrement, repulsed drivers say.

La Sagrada Familia II

Norman Mailer was never politically correct, but he was correct, politically

"Lyndon Johnson was first preceptor of the key that politics-is-property so you never give something away for nothing. Convention politics is therefore not the art of the possible so much as the art of what is possible when you are dealing with property holders. A delegate's vote is his holding — he will give it up without return no more than a man will sign over his house entire to a worthy cause.

"Such property relations are to be witnessed for every political sinecure in the land - judgeships, jobs, contracts, promises — it comes down to chairs in offices, and words negotiable like bonds.

"Politics at national level can still be comprehended by politics-as-property provided one remembers that moral integrity (or the public impression of such) in a high politician is also property, since it brings power and / or emoluments to him. Indeed a high politician — which is to say a statesman or a leader — has no political substance unless he is the servant of ideological institutions or interests and the available moral passions of the electorate. A politician picks and chooses among moral properties. If he is quick-witted, unscrupulous, and does not mind a life of constant anxiety, he will hasten — there is a great competition for things valuable in politics — to pick up properties wherever he can, even if they are rival holdings. To the extent a politician is his own man, attached to his own search for his own spiritual truth — which is to say willing to end in any unpalatable position to which the character of his truth could lead him — then he is ill-equipped for the game of politics. Politics is property. You pick up as much as you can, pay the minimum for the holding, extract the maximum, and combine where you may."

Norman Mailer; Miami and the Siege of Chicago (1968)

geographies: Duaringa

wednesday newstrip

Giant flatworms invading France have been ignored for almost 20 years · researchers find rice grown in the high carbon dioxide environments expected in the next 50 years may be less nutritious · North Korean official slams 'ignorant & stupid' Pence remarks, suggests he might be the oldest object in the solar system · a Queensland senator has raised eyebrows in Parliament after claiming that racism is virtually non-existent in Australia · NFL mandates anthem respect: Stand up, or stay in the locker room. Decision called “unpatriotic” · eight hours in, Dark Souls remastered captures the heart of the original but T®ump backers fear he's deserting them · anorexic mother-of-one who pretended she had cancer to disguise her 800-a-day laxative pill habit dies after being admitted to hospital weighing just 35kg.

The expanding network

: I lose my grip & begin to drift :
: get a hamster &/or a tropical fish :

Many people are new to this process.

Are there any Finnish males
whose names begin with S?

lines written whilst waiting for the other shoe to drop

in Tennessee
intensity

incendiary
unsanitary

geographies: Anabranch

wednesday newstrip

A very hungry black hole has been found in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, gorging on stars & launching a plume of ash 9100 meters into the sky · some evangelicals believe the transfer of the US embassy & the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital will help bring about the so-called Rapture · are octopuses alien? New theory argues Earth was 'seeded' by interstellar genetic code · a Brisbane pub goer hurled abuse at Prom Minister Malcontent Turnipballs after the prim manistereotype got served before he did · Google sells the future, powered by your personal data.

Coming soon

geographies: Port Douglas

Today the
postman brought
me a check-
ered board from
Rrose Sélavy.

from pelican dreaming, 8/9/2004

Found word for the day

Otoliths — "earstones" — are small white bony structures found in the head of all fish other than rays, sharks, & lampreys. They provide a sense of balance in much the same way that the inner ear provides balance in humans. They also aid in hearing. In some fish, the otolith is connected through fine hairs to the swim bladder & this aids the fish to hear behind itself.

Growth rings, much like those of a tree, record the age & growth of a fish from the date of hatch to the time of death in such detail that everything from the year of hatch, the migration pathways & the temperature of the water can be analysed from the otolith.

wednesday newstrip

What happened when Google's new AI assistant sounded too human — the resulting monster 23.8m-wave is largest ever recorded in southern hemisphere · North Korean nuclear test had energy of 10 Nagasaki bombs & moved mountain, geophysicists say · LGBT references blurred out of Eurovision by Chinese government · astronomers have found a record-breaking pair of stars orbiting with a dizzying speed among five things you need to know about the Netflix business model · Hobart's homeless shelter in cow shed after wild weather blows away tents · ask your baby's permission before changing diaper, says sexual consent expert · Israeli forces kill dozens in Gaza protests as anger mounts over US embassy move to Jerusalem. "What a glorious day for Israel," Pram Minister Knittingyahoo said.

addendum

geographies: Gumlu

Today the
postman brought
me a slice of
gorgonzola. I ate

it later while
reading La Bête
humaine & got
turned to stone.

wednesday newstrip

DoNuts T®ump speaks at NRA convention fourth year in a row; sends 'fountains of lava' into air; forces evacuation of thousands · German city braces for Prince Harry & Meghan Markle's big day · T®ump says Rudy Giuliani needs to 'get facts straight' on Australian court convicting Muslim woman for failing to stand · failure of triple-0 services leaves Telstra users exposed to Britney Spears sharing weird videos of her scantily clad self working out with boyfriend · Hawaii bans payments to porn star Stormy Daniels but Australia reluctant to follow suit · women who eat fast food may release chemicals that damage coral reefs.

geographies: Jerona

geographies: Giru