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The Ghost In The [Scanning] Machine |
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Frontispiece to Library of the world's best mystery and detective stories, Volume 1 --- Jonathan Caws-Elwitt notes: It's the shadow's shadow!
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 Is it true, as Momus
suggests, that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out'"? Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . . THE DEAD SECRET by Wilkie Collins "Will she last out the night, I wonder?" Suddenly a shot rang out.
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“You’re in the same boat with a lot of your friends, waiting for the day your ship will come in.” —Dolly Parton
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WANING CRESCENT (PRESENT PERFECT)"It looked almost like a semicolon, almost like an exclamation point, yet not altogether like either. It glowed eerily in the dim light." —Joe Devine, Commas are Our Friends (1989)
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 Is it true, as Momus
suggests, that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out'"? Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . . HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide. Suddenly, a shot rang out.
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The sun peeks through the canopy to create shadows in the Ghost Garden at Portmeirion, Wales.
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 Is it true, as Momus
suggests, that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out'"? Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . . NORTHANGER ABBEY by Jane Austen No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine. Suddenly, a shot rang out.
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“Looking for your boat on the sea; my eyes: spotlights trawling the emptiness.” —Michael O’Dea
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WANING CRESCENTThe semicolon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by the reading lamp. The fraction of the semicolon's dot that is illuminated is decreasing, like a cut flower without a vase. The darkness grows like a gathering thunderstorm. This semicolon appears before the New Semicolon and after the Last Quarter Semicolon. The crescent will grow smaller and smaller every day, until the semicolon looks like the New Semicolon.
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Puzzles and Games :: Which is Funnier |
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How did the editor of Punch reply to someone who complained that his magazine was not as funny as it used to be?
Clue: He spoke three words.
Answer: “It never was.” (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)
Citation: Joseph S. Nye, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power (1990), p. 87.
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The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
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~ Mysterious Beards ~ 
Portrait from The Poetical Works of Owen Meredith (Robert, Lord Lytton).
"‘Maybe he has a mysterious beard.’ ‘Who cares? It’s his soul that matters.’” —Munsey’s Magazine --- June ponders: Maybe they were calling Shakespeare "The Beard" and pronounced it "bard"!
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 Is it true, as Momus
suggests, that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out'"? Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . . THE SNOW QUEEN by Hans Christian Andersen Now then, let us begin. When we are at the end of the story, we shall know more than we know now: but to begin. Suddenly a shot rang out.
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From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
Inspired by Jeff Hawkins, who mentioned "the comfort of Euclidean space."
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Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Mindful Greetings and Volumes II, III and IV from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle. |
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INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the puzzle image below to reveal one possible solution.
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Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? |
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Had Keats majored in economics, might he have wondered (in an elevated style) what doth a Grecian earn? Gary Barwin adds: And if Browning had majored in economics, he'd have written "My Last Ducat."
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In this passage, two detective monks exploring a labyrinthine library encounter a book about unicorns in what amounts to the "Fiction" section: "But why have they also put a book with the unicorn among the falsehoods?" I asked. "Obviously the founders of the library had strange ideas. They must have believed that this book which speaks of fantastic animals and beasts living in distant lands was part of the catalogue of falsehoods spread by the infidels...." "But is the unicorn a falsehood? It's the sweetest of animals and a noble symbol. It stands for Christ, and for chastity; it can be captured only by setting a virgin the forest, so that the animal, catching her most chaste odor, will go and lay its head in her lap, offering itself as prey to the hunters' snares." "So it is said, Adso. But many tend to believe that it's a fable, an invention of the pagans." "What a disappointment," I said. "I would have liked to encounter one, crossing a wood. Otherwise what's the pleasure of crossing a wood?" . . . "But console yourself, they exist in these books, which, if they do not speak of real existence, speak of possible existence." — Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose
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“I am looking forward with confidence to the day when your ship will come in and discharge its cargo.” —Platt Rogers
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Puzzles and Games :: Which is Funnier |
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Which is funnier: a brandy bottle or a prayer book?
Clue: This is according to biographer Lytton Strachey.
Answer: a brandy bottle. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)
Citation: Michael Holroyd, Lytton Strachey: A Critical Biography (1968), p. 315.
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From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
Inspired by Jeff, who ran with the concept here.
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Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Mindful Greetings and Volumes II, III and IV from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle. |
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WANING CRESCENT (PROGRESSIVE)"The period of moonlit and starlit nights continued." —Ronald Mathias Lockley, Shearwaters (1942)
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 Is it true, as Momus
suggests, that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out'"? Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . . THE TIME MACHINE by H. G. Wells The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Suddenly, a shot rang out.
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INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the puzzle image below to reveal one possible solution.
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From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
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Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Mindful Greetings and Volumes II, III and IV from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle. |
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“Be confident that one day your ship will come in — so try not to rock the boat too much in the meantime.” —C. E. Montemayor
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From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
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Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Mindful Greetings and Volumes II, III and IV from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle. |
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WANING CRESCENT (FUTURE)"Space, semicolon, space." —International Standard Bibliographic Description (2007)
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Sequential frames from The Statue, complete with splicing tape.
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INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the puzzle image below to reveal one possible solution.
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From our Magic Words outpost: "Sometimes it is better for certain secrets to remain veiled by arcane
words. The secrets of nature are not transmitted on skins of goat or
sheep. Aristotle says in the book of secrets that communicating too
many arcana of nature and art breaks a celestial seal and many evils can
ensue. Which does not mean that secrets must not be revealed, but that
the learned must decide when and how." — Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose
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* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively. No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy. |
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“By launching a number of vessels, you make it more likely that your ship will come in.” —Phil Fournier
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Original Content Copyright © 2019 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
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