|
 "A rose is a rose is a rotary project." — The Rotarian, Aug. 1967
|
|
"Let's do so well that it can't possibly be explained by our talent or our training." —the cruelly canceled yet deliriously hilarious Strangers with Candy |
|
"The answer is simple: When we work for somebody else, we do so because we must — and we do what we are told.”
—Black Enterprise, Family Affair (Dec. 1979)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Left: Geof Huth, "Photo from Inside My Pocket" (21 July 2011) Right: Prof. Oddfellow, "Photo from Inside Geof Huth's Other Pocket" (28 July 2011)
|
|
An illustration from a 1910 issue of Hampton's magazine. The caption reads: "He raised his club on high and brought it down with a resounding clash upon the unexpectant bread pan."
|
| [Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost
sense of immediacy. We follow the founder of the Theater of
Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then
flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free. The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
|
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Autobiography and Correspondence of Sir Simonds D’Ewes.
“A rule of thumb is that the more opaque the ghost, the more able it is to ‘pass as alive.’” —Tom Ruffles, Ghost Images: Cinema of the Afterlife
|
|
The law of spectral return:"The light of those inconceivably distant stars in the Milky Way takes seventy thousand years to reach the earth; if there were a telescope powerful enough to bring the surface of one into view, the events we could observe, however much they appeared to be taking place before our eyes, would be things that had already been past for seventy thousand years. The idea that shook him with its terrifying simplicity was that in the infinite expanse of the universe every event that had ever occurred must be preserved somewhere, as an image embalmed in light. 'Therefore,' he reasoned, 'there must exist the possibility—even if it is beyond the power of man—of bringing back the past?'" —Gustav Meyrink, The Green Face
|
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of William Francis Bartlet.
“That’s when she noticed the first ghost. It was a faint bluish haze, like cigarette smoke.” —Julia Cameron, Mozart’s Ghost
|
|
|
|
|
|
 "If a rose is a rose, does it really matter that it is also a member of the genus Rosa of the family Rosaceae and the order Rosales?" —Joelle Steele
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Facts give the appearance of milestones but are, in reality, only empty eggshells; they are the insistent popping of champagne corks at the tables of the rich, which only a simpleton would take for the banquet itself." —Gustav Meyrink, The Golem
|
|
An illustration from a 1901 issue of Pall Mall magazine. The caption reads: Mars at the Telephone: "Well, well, what is it? who is it?"
Voice in Telephone: "Tesla."
Mars: "Who on earth is 'Tesla'?"
|
| [Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost
sense of immediacy. We follow the founder of the Theater of
Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then
flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free. The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
|
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of James Brainerd Taylor.
“It was a pale, shadowy face, indeed; and it faded quite away from earth.” —Peterson’s Magazine
|
|
| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
"There is no law on earth that does not evoke the Eumenides [the Furies]." —Petit-Senn, Le Portefeuille, qtd. in Malpertuis by Jean Ray |
|
"It's the oldest trick in the book—you know, the ricochet flirt. The more they ignore you, the more they like you." — Kath & Kim, Episode 2.7 The diagram is our own.
|
|
"The strange magic emanating from children's toys . . . often exercise[s] a greater healing power over a heart wearied by life than the most sublime work of art." —Gustav Meyrink, The Green Face |
|
 "This may surprise you, but it is difficult to find people like yourself who possess, if I may say so, your gentleness of manner." — Carol Shields, "Hazel," Collected Stories
|
|
"Apropos of nothing: 'There are two unpardonable sins — one writing an illegible hand and the other being late for dinner.'" —John Bright, English statesman
|
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Mary Stuart.
“We feel that this is the land of shades, and the ghost of history.” —W. Macneile Dixon
|
|
"The whole of life consists of nothing but questions which have taken on physical form and which bear the seed of their answer within them, and of answers which are pregnant with questions. A man who sees anything else in it is a fool." —Gustav Meyrink, The Golem |
|
| Puzzles and Games :: Which is Funnier |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
 Which word is funnier: tomato or banana?Clue: This is according to the classic satirical magazine Punch. Answer: tomato (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.) Citation: Punch (1923)
|
|
"The answer is simple. It will be annihilated and reversed.”
—The Irish Law Times and Solicitors’ Journal (1874)
|
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Arthur Upson.
“A mere ghost of himself, a faint grey-blue shadow.” —W. R. Grove
|
|
 "If there's one thing that bears repeating, it's that judgment will poison your dreams." —Russell Simmons & Chris Morrow, Do You!
Having said that . . . "It bears repeating that in the realm of leadership, the advantage frequently goes to the Judger." —Otto Kroeger, et al., Type Talk at Work
|
|
Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear. Are the following whispered words of an angelic or a diabolical nature? Forget about everyone else, and focus on yourself and your family.
Answer: Diabolical. "Mary's imp whispered in her ear all the way home, 'Forget about everyone else, and focus on yourself and your family.'” —Annamaria Q. Proctor, Intolerance, 2008, p. 52. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.) |
|
A 1901 illustration from Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "So far, not the slightest attempt has been made to interfere with me."
|
| [Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost
sense of immediacy. We follow the founder of the Theater of
Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then
flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free. The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
|
|
From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook: "Behind the dark masonry of the forehead there must be enigmas sleeping such as Amsterdam had never imagined in its wildest dreams.” —Gustav Meyrink, The Green Face |
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of the life of Jeremiah Evarts.
“Shrouded in dense, spectral fog.” —Sharon Kay Penman, Falls the Shadow
|
|
"Our only certainty here is that the field is open and game goes on!"
—P. Tarazona, "Density Functional Theories of Hard Particle Systems" (2008)
|
|
|
|
|
|
An illustration from Vaught's Practical Character Reader, 1902. The caption reads: "What we see ghosts with. Our spiritual eyes." Dedicated with thanks to Gordon Meyer, who applies his mysterious powers to make the everyday uncommon.
|
| [Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost
sense of immediacy. We follow the founder of the Theater of
Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then
flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free. The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
|
|
| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
Each single action here on earth Accords with nature's rule; "I am the author of this act"— Thus speaks the self-deceiving fool. —Gustav Meyrink, The White Dominican |
|
| Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
Did you hear about the original twist ending of the film Basic Instinct? Instead of an ice pick, there was a corkscrew under the bed. |
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Oliver Cromwell’s Collected Works.
“We have no great objection to Cromwell’s shadow (though a bad metonymy for a portrait).” —The Metropolitan
|
|
"I believe that the old mysteries conceal much more dangerous things than knowledge of phases of the moon and eclipses of the sun, things that really had to be concealed—but which do not need to be concealed nowadays because the foolish throng would not believe them anyway, only laugh at them—things that obey the same laws of harmony as the stars and which are therefore similar to them." —Gustav Meyrink, The Green Face |
|
You've heard of a "murder of crows" and other fun collective nouns. But what do you call a collection of elders? "An infinity of elders." — William Beckford, Vathek |
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of Ann H. Judson.
"It was vague and pale and insubstantial but the features were those of her portrait.” —Carolyn G. Hart, Southern Ghost
|
|
|
|
|
|
We're honored to have contributed a chapter to Edvin Thungren's new book, The Ampersand, viewable here.
|
|
| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
A hand without fingerprints still leaves a smudge — Geof Huth |
|
From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook: This piece is for Gary Barwin, whose pirate-novel-in-progress is our most-anticipated book of whatever year it debuts. |
|
Xenagorabibliomania: an obsessive curiosity about the books that strangers read in open spaces (Nick Hornby).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tiny gems in Shakespeare's work We're honored to have designed the one-letter words edition of the exceedingly charming Shakespeare Papers. Editor Robin Williams explains: "Looking at the wee bits, we believe, allows us to gain an even greater appreciation of the whole."
|
|
An illustration from The Century, 1896. The caption says: "Reading the shadow."
|
| [Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost
sense of immediacy. We follow the founder of the Theater of
Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then
flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free. The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
|
|
"The answer is simple: He will undoubtedly get it.”
—Kiplinger’s Personal Finance (Dec. 1956)
|
|
An illustration from a 1905 issue of Pall Mall magazine. The caption simply reads: "Science."
|
| [Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost
sense of immediacy. We follow the founder of the Theater of
Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then
flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free. The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
|
|
"Coming up with an idea is a confounded thing. We think our brain produces them, but in reality they do what they like with our brain and are more unbiddable than any living creature." —Gustav Meyrink, The Green Face
This frame is from the hilarious and endearing Mapp & Lucia series, based on E. F. Benson's novels.
|
|
| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
|
|
|
~ Amorphous Apparitions ~ 
Portrait from Roden Noel.
“The spirit’s face was pale, the color of a cold moon.” —Norman Partridge, Crow: Wicked Prayer
|
Page 0 of 3943
Original Content Copyright © 2025 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
|
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't understand what you're all so upset about."
