The town of Wallisellen in Canton Zürich, Switzerland, has just come up again on this blog (in the posting “Three Züricher Peter Zwickys”), as the site of the Zwicky silk-thread company and now the Zwicky construction and real estate company. Two notable things about the place (from its Wikipedia page): the etymology of its name, which looks like a compound (and is), but without easily identifiable parts; and a Swiss German nonsense rhyme that incorporates the town’s name.
Archive for June, 2018
Swiss spin-off: Wallisellen
June 27, 2018Three Züricher Peter Zwickys
June 27, 2018A comment on my posting on the 24th, “A Swiss thread in Paris”, about a handsome Zwicky & Co. building on the Boulevard de Sébastopol in Paris:
The building was used as sales office for Zwicky [silk] sewing threads until 2000 and is still owned by the Zwicky Family.
This from one Peter Zwicky, from a Swiss e-mail address. Now, there are great many Peter Zwickys in Switzerland, a fair number just in the Zürich area alone — one of whom (cellist Peter, son of Conrad) I’ve mentioned in passing in postings on this blog. (Zürich is relevant because the headquarters of the Zwicky sewing thread company are in Wallisellen, in Canton Zürich not far (about 5.5 miles) from the city.) I thought this might be that Peter, but no, he’s an executive in the silk-thread Zwicky & Co.
In gathering information about Silk PZ (as opposed to Cello PZ), I came across another notable Züricher PZ, an earthquake specialist in a Zürich firm of consuting engineers — Earthquake PZ for short.
Then, as an unexpected bonus, it turns out that one of Silk PZ’s daughters is the Joëlle Zwicky (of IWC, the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen, Switzerland) that I posted about on 6/6/18, in “Swiss watchmakers”.
Deterrence, lessons, and examples: pour encourager les autres
June 26, 2018A typical report on recent approaches to those seeking entrance to the U.S. at the Mexican border, “Here Are the Facts About [REDACTED]’s Family Separation Policy” by Maya Thodan in Time magazine on the 20th:
Administration officials have often characterized these policies [of interviews and hearings] as “loopholes” that are exploited by those seeking to enter the U.S. Some administration officials have suggested that the “zero tolerance” policy could serve as a deterrent for other migrants who are seeking to come to the U.S.
The idea is that applicants should all be rejected, and in a way so savage that others would be deterred from applying. The aim of the policy is, in Voltaire’s pointed phrasing, pour encourager les autres.
Hydrangeal matters
June 26, 2018Kim Darnell reported to me this morning that while walking her dogs she’d come across a hydrangea garden with one variety she’d never seen before. With a bit of effort, I identified it as the ‘lacecap’ variety of the bigleaf, or snowball, hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla:
(#1) Floral fireworks!
While searching for lacecap images, I stumbled on something even more remarkable: hydrangea cakes.
JOR: LATINO SPIRIT
June 26, 2018(Guy in a minimal swimsuit from the Colombian company Jor, suggestive text, but nothing at all hard-core.)
The Daily Jocks sale ad yesterday, with my caption:
(#1) JOR: LATINO SPIRIT
Jor, son of Toro and Jordache
Lovingly hand-made
Lean, festive, resilient
Shines sexily in the sunLies proudly under Panama,
Has jungle liaisons with
Pacific Ecuador,
Caribbean VenezuelaBoasts cheekily in Bogotá
Of his tough style
Midsummer cartoons
June 25, 2018Saturday night was Midsummer’s Eve (St. John’s Eve), yesterday Midsummer Day (St. John’s Day) — so that last night was Midsummer Night, when the fairies frolic. (As they did indeed, at SF Pride events.) Meanwhile there are cartoons: a Bill Whitehead Free Range cartoon from 9/6/17, in the July 2018 issue of Funny Times; a John Atkinson Wrong Hands cartoon that came to me from Eleanor Houck; and a Scott and Borgman Zits cartoon in today’s King Features feed.
First come the cartoons, then come the holidays. (Apologies to Brecht and his Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral — pleasure first, then the serious stuff.)
The musician, the mayor, his instrument, and their vermin
June 24, 2018The Bizarro/Wayno collaboration on the 21st is another exercise in cartoon understanding (but a relatively easy one):
(#1) (If you’re puzzled by the odd symbols in the cartoon — Dan Piraro says there are 4 in this strip — see this Page.)
You need to know the basic outline of a European legend (the major clues to which are the reference to ridding a town of rats and the unusual word pied in the title), and you need to know something about musical instruments (to recognize that the sousaphone — named in the title — plays the role of the (musical) pipe in the legend).
Then there’s more to be said about the parallels between the cartoon world and the legend world, with special reference to wind instruments (of which the sousaphone is the largest). Which leads me to the rich world of the legend and its connection to the real world. And the fictivity of stories; there’s a fair amount of factuality, or at least real-world context, in the legend. And from there — surprise! — to St. John and Paul’s Day next week (June 26th). And from there — another surprise! — to eunuchs and the social world of the Roman Empire.
A Swiss thread in Paris
June 24, 2018This Instagram photo by Eric Darvoy @Pixdar on Twitter:
(#1) Soies Zwicky & Co. door at 36 Boulevard de Sébastopol, Paris
The Zwicky silk thread company (of Wallisellen in Canton Zürich, Switzerland), most recently visited in my posting on the 19th, “A Swiss thread”. Apparently, in the 1940s, the company had an office in Paris, with these imposing doors.
Four things for Pride
June 23, 2018Pride Saturday in SF today (including some events that my grand-daughter will take part in); then the parade tomorrow (which I will watch via the miracle of live streaming by KPIX); then on Monday the 25th, the birthday of Saint George Michael of the Beverly Tearoom, the patron saint of parks at night; and finally on Thursday the 28th, actual Stonewall Day (recalling the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969).
For today: two kinds of rainbow food (rainbow cupcakes and rainbow roll sushi); Pride underwear, including two lines of rainbow underwear; and an entertaining accessory (a pink triangle pin, another creation in a long tradition of slogan buttons, stickers, patches, banners, etc. as well as nonverbal designs: the various Pride flags, the plain pink triangle, lavender-colored objects, etc., including my Forever Gay pin).
A pixelated morning
June 23, 2018This morning’s name: the verb pixelate. Based on the noun pixel, with at least three senses, in NOAD:
verb pixelate (also pixellate or pixilate): [with object] [a] divide (an image) into pixels, typically for display or storage in a digital format. [b] (be pixelated) (of an image on a computer screen or other display) be enlarged so far that the viewer sees the individual pixels that form the image, the enlargement having reached the point at which no further detail can be resolved. [c] display an image of (someone or something) on television as a small number of large pixels, typically in order to disguise someone’s identity.
It’s sense c that I’m especially interested in here. That, and the ambiguity of
/ˈpɪksəletəd/
between pixelated, the PST/PSP of this V, and a very different Adj pixilated.