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 155 posts tagged ‘hot air balloon’

Old News – April 17, 2017 (permalink)

"Feather-covered dirigibles predicted for the future."  From Popular Mechanics, 1930.  Big Science back then (as now) can't see the forest for the trees.  The naiveté would almost be charming, if not for the smugness behind everything in vintage Popular Mechanics.  (We daren't look at more modern issues.  The white-coat New Inquisition, as Robert Anton Wilson called them, terrifies us.)
> read more from Old News . . .
#prediction #dirigible #weird headline #vintage headline #blimp #headline
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Restoring the Lost Sense – November 30, 2016 (permalink)

"The balloon never had a chance."  From Hartmann the Anarchist by Edwatd Douglas Fawcett, 1893.
[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 #war machine #flying machine #hot air balloon #air strike #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – November 25, 2016 (permalink)

Eerily prescient!  The future of Boston, from c. 1910.
[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 #future #boston #prediction #hot air balloon #dirigible #air ship #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – November 3, 2016 (permalink)

[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 #folklore #fairy tale #hot air balloon #folk tale #illustration
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This May Surprise You – September 26, 2016 (permalink)

You've heard of (and perhaps even seen) castles in the air, but did you know they're supported by dirigible airships?  From Die Muskete, 1909.
> read more from This May Surprise You . . .
#vintage illustration #airship #castles in the air #zeppelin #dirigible #illustration #blimp
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 9, 2016 (permalink)

An airship in a damaged photo … or is this what really happened to the Hindenburg?
[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 . . .
#airship #vintage photo #damaged photo #zeppelin #dirigible #naval craft #photo
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Strange Dreams – February 17, 2016 (permalink)

"I dream'd one night, as some have dream'd before."  From The Loyal Man in the Moon, 1820.
If you have a strange dream to share, send it along!
> read more from Strange Dreams . . .
#vintage illustration #space travel #man in the moon #crescent moon #hot air balloon #strange dream #illustration #art
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Precursors – April 13, 2015 (permalink)

Before the dirigible was the air ship of 1608, reproduced in History of the Parish Church of Saint Michael and All Angels, Chipping Lambourn by John Footman, 1894.
> read more from Precursors . . .
#vintage illustration #woodcut #airship #tall ship #invention #transportation #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – October 8, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from a 1907 issue of The Strand magazine.

[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 #ghost #rooftop #hot air balloon #illustration
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Neither Saint- Nor Sophist-Led – February 5, 2012 (permalink)

The patron saint of the balloonist:  an illustration from a 1907 issue of Life magazine.

Who is your favorite imaginary saint?  Do share!
> read more from Neither Saint- Nor Sophist-Led . . .
#vintage illustration #patron saint #hot air balloon #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 4, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1869 issue of Harper's magazine.
[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 #hot air balloon #plummeting #illustration #air disaster
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 28, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1869 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "Heroic self-sacrifice."
[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 #falling #hot air balloon #1860s #plummeting #illustration #plunging #self sacrifice
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 7, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1869 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "Philosophy in the air."
[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 #philosophy #hot air balloon #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – December 1, 2011 (permalink)

An illustration from a 1907 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "All around the great shadow balloon was a radiant lunar rainbow."

[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 #shadow #clouds #hot air balloon
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Forgotten Wisdom – June 9, 2010 (permalink)

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
Click to view a larger image

 
Inspired by Gary Barwin, who saw a distant comet in an exclamation point.
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.
> read more from Forgotten Wisdom . . .
#hot air balloon #diagram
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