An illustration from a 1904 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "She sat looking into the April distance."

"It bears repeating: a single study never proves or disproves anything."
—Frances Sienkiewicz Sizer & Ellie Whitney, Nutrition

"Just tell me...”
" Anything.”
"Is this really happening?”
He laughed, low, and he brushed the hair at her temple with a tender hand. "Yes, my darling. It's really happening."
—Christine Rimmer, The Prince's Secret Baby (2012)

The mark of the devil: an illustration from an 1897 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "Inscription on the human back."

The classic red dot on maps indicating "You Are Here" is as simple a symbol as it is profound.  That red dot, let's observe, is a specific point and yet it's also everywhere, because, as the old saying goes, "wherever you go, there you are."  That red dot is what the Greek philosopher Pythagoras called the Monad — a unit that is simultaneously the whole shebang.  The classic red dot shows up in the classic Human League music video for "(Keep Feeling) Fascination," first as a point on a map . . .


. . .  and then as a literal red spot in space: a painted red house and its immediate surroundings.


Interestingly, we discover that the inside of the house is all grey, from the walls to the floor to the furniture and even to the lightbulb.  The band itself plays grey instruments, but we notice that they're not wearing grey.  This is a crucial detail — to live "la vie en rose," they don't need to dress in flamboyant red or pink but they do need to exhibit a contrast.  Their black clothing stands out sharply from the grey and yet also integrates, since grey is a combination of black and white.


Even in the middle of grey surroundings, the band exuberantly lives "la vie en rose," and we come to see the red circle around their house as a sort of aura that passively affects people in the vicinity.  For example, a boy playing football on the street finds both his ball and his outfit coloured red when he enters the circle.  Quite literally, his very existence becomes hued by virtue of neighbours who "keep feeling [and broadcasting] fascination."


Interestingly, lead singer Phil Oakey is depicted in front of a cracked door.  Had the door been closed, Phil would have had more room to sing and dance, so we know this detail was deliberate.  The cracked door symbolizes a opening between the outer world to inner, sacred space.  The band is not locked away but is accessible to others and free to move beyond any confines.


What the Human League seem to be saying with the red dot is in line with the countercultural mantra "be here now."  In other words, you are here, no matter where you go, so be fully present in the here and now and draw irresistibly the attention and interest of others by being ever-fascinating.

P.S.  Where exactly is the Human League's red dot house now?  Fascinatingly, it's nowhere and simultaneously everywhere, as the structure at 1 First Avenue, London was demolished just a few months after the video shoot.  The red dot is now a triangle of green.

We're honored and frankly thrilled to see two spooky gems of our research feature in Long Forgotten's richly detailed and thoughtfully considered analysis of inspirations for Disney's Haunted Mansions.

"Call it a hunch, and not just in my psychic kneecap."
—Karen Moline, Belladonna (1998)


A still from the perennially hilarious Young Frankenstein.

"It's the oldest trick in the book, right?  You wait for them to make a mistake."
—Steve Hamilton, Misery Bay (2011)

An illustration from an 1860 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "An artist's trials."

"The only certainty is that 'someone', 'somewhere', who has committed a certain offense, deserves to die."
—Is the Death Penalty Dying?: European and American Perspectives (2011)

"The Spirit of the Dusk":  an illustration from a 1901 issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine.

We appreciated this review of our latest project in the Winnipeg Free Press:

photo by Cobalt 123

"Everything good was either immoral or fattening, she added, apropos of nothing."
—Richard Russo, Nobody's Fool (2011)

In the grand finale of Disneyland's famous Haunted Mansion, a ghost sits next to you.  Here's an illustration from an 1891 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "Haunted."

[This one's dedicated to our friend at Long-Forgotten, who ruminates fascinatingly on the eccentric masterpiece that is the Haunted Mansion.]

An illustration from a 1916 issue of Collier's magazine.

An illustration from an 1895 issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine.  The caption reads: "'See!' holding up something which in the semi-darkness gleamed like a star."

An illustration from a 1908 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "He went forth into the dawn sleepless."

"It bears repeating that a list value is different from an array."
—Larry Wall, et al., Programming Perl

An illustration from a 1904 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "He went on milking in a sort of happy dream."

"Now don't take this the wrong way, but you're very smart.  I do listen, but half the time I don't know what you're talking about."
—Jillian Medoff, Hunger Point

"My response may surprise you. 'It probably won't do you any good,' I say. 'It's too late.'"
—George Kinder, The Seven Stages of Money Maturity (2012)

An illustration from a 1905 issue of McClure's magazine.

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

An illustration from an 1898 issue of Wide World magazine.  The caption reads: "I haunted the seashore for hours."

It's popularly known that Columbus graciously named the New World after his rival, Amerigo Vespucci.  But did you know that Columbus went on to name Italy after Vespucci's favorite author, Italo Calvino?

"Who are you?": an illustration from an 1897 issue of English Illustrated magazine.

An illustration from an 1897 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "The spirit of eternal, changeless silence reigns supreme."

From the Enduring Fascination with Last Words Department:

Enrique Vila-Matas recalls that his mother had a lifelong habit of saying strange things, to the point that his grandmother often explained to visitors: "The child, you see, has lived in Paris."  On her deathbed, his mother spoke a few last words that "due to their premeditated strangeness, sounded to me like an epitaph, though we didn't dare put them on her tombstone.  'I'll laugh at the bitter things I said,' she said.  Her two brothers looked dismayed.  'It's because she lived in Paris,' I told them."  (From Never Any End to Paris.)

(For Greg at Futility Closet.)

An illustration from an 1898 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "Innumerable spirits mobbed him."

An illustration from a 1901 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "They carried him into darkness."

An illustration from a 1921 issue of Collier's magazine.  The caption reads: "'Take my wrist,' said Connor Lee.  'Misdirection will not avail.  Greater forces than you dream exist will guide my hand.'"

An illustration from a 1919 issue of Scribner's magazine.  The caption reads: "Long the enchanted Gordon drank in the beauty of the picture."

"It bears repeating, also, that the very notion of 'disability' implies a value judgment."
—Jane M. Healy, Different Learners

Do you remember,
when you were a child,
the animals used to call your name?
And you knew in the dark
when the others were dreaming
and you could never get to sleep.
—Cat People (1982)

An illustration of a glowing "90" from a 1914 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.  The caption reads: "He sat up in bed, and shut and opened his eyes to persuade himself that he was not dreaming."

There's an interesting moment in every Almodovar film (just before the turning point) when the heroine's love interest either: 1) is sleeping with her best girlfriend, 2) doesn't exist, 3) is the heroine's male self from before the surgery.  Play along at home! 

(Thanks, Mike!)

An illustration from an 1892 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads, simply: "Question."

Yes, you may . . . on one condition:

"Tomorrow you meet me and explain what's going on." —Kat Martin, The Bride's Necklace

An illustration from an 1898 issue of Wide World magazine.  The caption reads: "I lighted fresh cigars."

An illustration from an 1897 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "He took a long draught."

An illustration from an 1899 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "He held while earth and sky whirled with him."

"This may surprise you, but the story isn't over yet."
—Learning Perl (2005)

An illustration from a 1911 issue of Everybody's magazine.  The caption reads: "In suspension in the clouds thereabout, waiting some other command in its native tongue."

An illustration from an 1897 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "They descended into another house."

An illustration from a 1908 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "A strange new light would shine out of its pages."

"It bears repeating: Your goal (for now) is to get acquainted and develop friendships with the people around you."
—Bruce Fisher & Robert Alberti, Rebuilding

This one's courtesy of William Keckler:

If you read the Collected Works of Franz Kafka only in elevators, a little bit at a time, it will take you years but you will probably appreciate his writing at a much deeper level.

An illustration from an 1860 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "Total eclipse."

An illustration from an 1896 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "I'm the lightning fiend!"

"A rose is a rose is a rose, but the same is not true of conspiracies."
—James H. Fetzer, The Great Zapruder Film Hoax

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

Staring into the depths: an illustration from a 1900 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.  The caption reads: "As the night went by he sat there alone, staring into the ash of the fire."

"And scarcely had the last stroke of the hour ceased to resound, when a revolver shot rang out!"

This illustration is from "The Eleventh Hour" by Edwin Balmer and Wililam B. MacHarg, in Hampton's magazine, 1910.

"Wall Street Ghosts":  an illustration from a 1905 issue of Life magazine.

An illustration from a 1904 issue of The Strand magazine.  The headline reads: "Venerable Babies."

An illustration from a 1903 issue of Life magazine.

"I may have said this before, but it bears repeating. Great marriages are made in heaven; but so, too, are thunder and lightning."
—Ted Bell, Spy

An illustration from a 1908 issue of Harper's magazine.

"This bears repeating: Always remove the cable clamp from the negative terminal first."
—Deanna Sclar, Auto Repair For Dummies

Gary Barwin's "handpersand" reminded us that some handy ampersands are capable of grasping without fingers.

An illustration from an 1898 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "As he read the letters danced before him."

An illustration from a 1903 issue of Life magazine.