CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
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Abecedarian personal effects of 'a mad genius'
A Turkish Delight of musings on languages, deflations of metaphysics, vauntings of arcana, and great visual humor.

Found 608 posts tagged ‘popular mechanics’

Old News – June 29, 2017 (permalink)

"The phone never rings for Jim."  From Popular Mechanics, 1926.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage headline #friendless #illustration #social isolation #unfriended #unloved #headline #art
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 28, 2017 (permalink)

"Mahogany crotch weighs 16,800 pounds."  From Popular Mechanics, 1909.

[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #illustration #mahogany
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 27, 2017 (permalink)

"A boy-girl fancy dress costume."  From Popular Mechanics, 1909.

[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage photo #transgender #boy girl costume #half and half
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Old News – June 26, 2017 (permalink)

"A marvelous 'living skull' still has human power."  From a piece about the magician Joseffy in Popular Mechanics, 1909.
> read more from Old News . . .
#necromancy #vintage magic #vintage headline #talking skull #living skull #magic skull #headline
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 25, 2017 (permalink)

"Locked inside."  From Popular Mechanics, 1909.
[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage magic #magic #in chains #illustration #escape trick #escapologist #locked in a safe
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Images Moving Through Time – June 24, 2017 (permalink)

The "Jinx" of the 13th Air Squadron.  From Popular Mechanics, 1924.
> read more from Images Moving Through Time . . .
#skeleton #thirteen #jinx #air squadron
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 24, 2017 (permalink)

"Necromancy in the movies - A 'doctored' picture that apparently shows the reflected image of the heroine in the hero's left eye."  From Popular Mechanics, 1917.
[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #eye #trick photography #illustration
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Old News – June 23, 2017 (permalink)

Electricity as "this funny juice."  From Popular Mechanics, 1927.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage headline #electricity #illustration #funny juice #headline #art
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 22, 2017 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1917.
[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage gay #sledding #gay #illustration #homoerotic #wounded soldier
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Images Moving Through Time – June 21, 2017 (permalink)

"Trying to blow a few notes on saxophone weighing five hundred pounds."  From Popular Mechanics, 1924.
> read more from Images Moving Through Time . . .
#vintage photo #musician #saxophone #giant instrument #giant saxophone
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Old News – June 20, 2017 (permalink)

"Held back by—what?"  From Popular Mechanics, 1927.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage ad #held back #vintage headline #dead end job #headline #ad
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 19, 2017 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1917.
[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #wink #illustration #wheelbarrow
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The Right Word – June 18, 2017 (permalink)

Notice how this old ad attempted to turn "elucidations" into a magic word, meant to mesmerize the reader in almost every paragraph.  The reader was also enticed to send for the pamphlet by two other concepts -- notice how many times sensual/sensational pleasure/stimulation is mentioned, and how "mysterious" the effect will be.  From Popular Mechanics, 1924.
> read more from The Right Word . . .
#vintage ad
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Images Moving Through Time – June 17, 2017 (permalink)

"Are monsters like this still alive?"  From Popular Mechanics, 1927.
> read more from Images Moving Through Time . . .
#monster #dinosaur
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Old News – June 16, 2017 (permalink)

"Machine produces vowel sounds."  From Popular Mechanics, 1907.  This recalls Webster's Dictionary of All-Vowel Words (can you guess how great a many there are? Scrabble, anyone?)
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #mouth #vintage headline #illustration #talking machine #vowel sounds #headline
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 15, 2017 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1923.
[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #statue #idol #illustration #tomb raider #indiana jones #art
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Precursors – June 14, 2017 (permalink)

Here's a precursor to the joke about the six-inch pianist.  From Popular Mechanics, 1927.  (Keep in mind that nobody was buying this magazine for the articles.  The first 95 pages of every issue are classified ads and notices for home instruction in employment skills.) 
> read more from Precursors . . .
#piano #miniature piano #tiny piano
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 13, 2017 (permalink)

"The umbrella as a weapon of defense."  From Popular Mechanics, 1908.
[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #umbrella #illustration #self defense
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This May Surprise You – June 12, 2017 (permalink)

Here a book on [so-called] scientific achievement is pitched as a spiritualist seance.  From an ad in Popular Mechanics, 1924.
> read more from This May Surprise You . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage ad #spirits #spiritualism #seance #illustration #art #ad
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 11, 2017 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1923.
[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #polar bear #north pole #arctic #eskimo #illustration #art
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