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 – January 31, 2018 (permalink)

It does take balls to model atom formations.  From Popular Mechanics, 1930.  The headline reads, "Models of atom formatinos shown with balls."
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage photo #vintage headline #atoms #molecules #headline
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Old News – January 30, 2018 (permalink)

"Three sunsets seen in hour."  From Popular Mechanics, 1932.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #sunset #vintage headline #illustration #many suns #headline
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Old News – January 29, 2018 (permalink)

Some heartwarming news: "Coldest cold ever produced still has a little heat."  From Popular Mechanics, 1933.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage headline #illustration #coldest cold #headline
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 28, 2018 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1930.
[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 #wizard #occult #fortune telling #illustration #magic box #art
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 27, 2018 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1930.
[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 ad #illustration #gay innuendo #men's underwear #vintage underwear #underwear #art #ad
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Do-Re-Midi – January 26, 2018 (permalink)

> read more from Do-Re-Midi . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage ad #illustration #harmonica #art #ad
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Old News – January 25, 2018 (permalink)

Noisy oysters interfer with ships' ears.  From Popular Mechanics, 1930.
> read more from Old News . . .
#weird headline #vintage headline #oysters #headline
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Old News – January 24, 2018 (permalink)

"Fish learn to read alphabet."  From Popular Mechanics, 1930.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #animal intelligence #animal learning #vintage headline #illustration #smart animal #fish intelligence #headline #art
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Old News – January 23, 2018 (permalink)

Q: "Is this monster locomotive a 'he' or a 'she'?"  (From Popular Mechanics, 1930.)
A: Where's the cure for cancer, eh?
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #locomotive #vintage headline #big science #gender #headline #art
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 22, 2018 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1930.
[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 . . .
#mummy #vintage illustration #ancient egypt #pharaoh #egyptian tomb #crypt #illustration #art
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Old News – January 21, 2018 (permalink)

"Transparent man like ghost."  From Popular Mechanics, 1930.
> read more from Old News . . .
#ghost #vintage headline #headline
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This May Surprise You – January 19, 2018 (permalink)

"Iron man sings or whistles and reads newspaper."  From Popular Mechanics, 1932.
> read more from This May Surprise You . . .
#vintage illustration #iron man #automaton #robot #illustration
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Old News – January 18, 2018 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1932.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage ad #vintage headline #vintage man #diver #man #crotch #vital zone #headline #ad
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Colorful Allusions – January 16, 2018 (permalink)

"The scientist points out that each color of starlight tells its own story."  From Popular Mechanics, 1933.
* Though printed in black and white, great literature is bursting with vibrant colour. In this rebus-style puzzle, color words and parts of words have been replaced with colored boxes. Try to guess the exact hue of each. Roll your mouse over the colored boxes to reveal the missing words. Click the colored boxes to learn more about each hue. Special thanks to Paul Dean for his colorful research.
 
> read more from Colorful Allusions . . .
#night sky #starlight #colors #star color
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Old News – January 15, 2018 (permalink)

"What animals do at night shown by flashlight."  From Popular Mechanics, 1932.
> read more from Old News . . .
#night creatures #flashlight #vintage headline #no shit sherlock #headline
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Old News – January 14, 2018 (permalink)

"Clocks that are never right give world correct time."  From Popular Mechanics, 1932.
> read more from Old News . . .
#time #clocks #vintage headline #even a stopped clock #headline
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Old News – January 14, 2018 (permalink)

"The mystery of unbearable cold."  From Popular Mechanics, 1927.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage illustration #winter #vintage headline #illustration #frozen #freezing cold #headline #art
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 13, 2018 (permalink)

From Popular Mechanics, 1932.
[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 #chicago #electricity #illustration #exposition
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 12, 2018 (permalink)

An airplane dumps chemicals to be illuminated over Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition.  From Popular Mechanics, 1932.
[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 #chicago #airplane #illustration #exposition #contrail
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Old News – January 11, 2018 (permalink)

"Ship figurehead of Hercules becomes 'wishing image.'"  From Popular Mechanics, 1932.
> read more from Old News . . .
#figurehead #hercules #wishing #vintage headline #headline
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