|
 |
 |
William Keckler marvels: "I tried to find a picture of a lime in lime light. And I couldn't find a single photograph of this. I felt like asking Google for a divorce. All I wanted was to see a lime in a perfectly matching lime light, a lime camouflaged in lime light." Ladies and gentlemen, we present an Internet first: an actual lime in limelight.
June writes: Lovin' you in the liminal zone!
QAII writes: So it's true. You ARE the light of my life!!!!!
AskAndYeShallReceive writes: You are a philosopher, a gentleman and a spectacle. I can only achieve the last one. Thank You, My Friend!
Prof. Oddfellow writes: Woohoo! Thank you -- I'm glowing!
Catherine writes: You are truly amazing my friend - a living legend - I'm green with envy at your genius ;~/
Prof. Oddfellow writes: I'm blushing, Kate! (I do realize you'll have to take my word for it!)
|

 |
|

 |
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 whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?
Answer: Angelic. "Turn—yet turn and live!" —Andrew Cleaves, "Chapters on Churchyards," in The Living Age, Vol. VII, Dec. 1845, p. 362. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)
|


 |
INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the puzzle image below to reveal one possible solution.
|


 |
The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from Memoir of Rachel Hicks.
Note that the Rachel Hicks appears more jovial in spectral form.
To understand what's going on here, see The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine.
|


 |
“Your boat waits, and I have the honor to bid you good-evening.” —Molly Seawell
|




 |
|
 |
 |
We understand this is the first and last time Hollywood extras were acknowledged in a film's opening credit sequence. The film is the stunning noir masterpiece The Shanghai Gesture:
|

 |
"The parentheticals are where the answers lie." — Geof Huth
"Closed Parentheses" by theilr.
|

 |
The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
~ Classic Sightings ~ 
Portrait from The Life of Sir Walter Scott.
“His face was grim in the ghostly blue light.” —P. J. Parrish
|

 |
|
 |
 |
I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
|

 |
Here's one of Nabokov's methods for a secret code. Note the charming detail that " one-letter words remain undisguised": For their correspondence in the first period of separation, Van and Ada had invented a code ... One-letter words remained undisguised. In any longer word each letter was replaced by the one succeeding it in the alphabet at such an ordinal point–second, third, fourth, and so forth–which corresponded to the number of letters in that word. Thus "love", a four-letter word, became "pszi" ("p" being the fourth letter after "l" in the alphabetic series, "s" the fourth after "o" et cetera), whilst, say, "lovely" (in which the longer stretch made it necessary, in two instances, to resume the alphabet after exhausting it) became "ruBkrE", where the letters overflowing into the new alphabetic series were capitalized. —V. Nabokov, Ada or Ardor: A Family ChronicleVia Gretel und Hänsel
|

 |
|

 |
|
 |
 |
From our former outpost at Twitter: Why do we praise people for making a "difference" when they're actually making a "sum"?
Gary Barwin wittily answers: I think it's a product of the times.
June adds: It just doesn't add up.
|


 |
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 whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?Answer: Diabolical. "Some Demon whispered, 'Visto! have a taste.'" —Alexander Pope, "Epistle IV," The Works of Alexander Pope Vol. III, 1881, p. 173. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.) --- Gordon writes: Love this series!
|


 |
INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the puzzle image below to reveal one possible solution.
|

 |
|
 |
 |
From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook: This piece was inspired by Andy Paik and Arcana Chaos. The red letter C is from the award-winning typeface created for our One-Letter Words: A Dictionary (HarperCollins) by Mucca Design.
|


 |
The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel.
It’s not every day we meet a spirit who has been transferred to the University of Washington library.
To understand what's going on here, see The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine.
|


 |
“Be tenacious! One day your ship will come in.” —Ann Majchrzak
|

 |
|
 |
 |
In the British comedy series " Absolutely Fabulous," a life coach gives this ridiculous "daily aim": "Have a great idea and write a pop song." We couldn't help but think back on that line when we saw this advice:
This frame is from the hilarious and endearing Mapp & Lucia series, based on E. F. Benson's novels. We agree with Nigel Hawthorne here — well-chosen words don't write themselves!
|



 |
The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke.
“A poet’s ghost is the only one that survives for his fellow-mortals, after his bones are in the dust.” —Nathaniel Hawthorne, Our Old Home
To understand what's going on here, see The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine.
|

 |
|
 |
 |
Philosopher G.E. Moore suggested that there must be such thing as a unicorn, since the human mind can think of it and can distinguish the thought of a unicorn from the thought of a griffin. H is convincing explanation:
When I think of a unicorn, what I am thinking of is certainly not nothing; if it were nothing, then, when I think of a griffin, I should also be thinking of nothing, and there would be no difference between thinking of a griffin and thinking of a unicorn. But there certainly is a difference; and what can the difference be except that in the one case what I am thinking of is a unicorn, and in the other a griffin? And if the unicorn is what I am thinking of, then there certainly must be a unicorn, in spite of the fact that unicorns are unreal. In other words, though in one sense of the words there certainly are no unicorns–that sense, namely, in which to assert that there are would be equivalent to asserting that unicorns are real–yet there must be some other sense in which there are such things; since, if there were not, we could not think of them. — G.E. Moore, Philosophical Studies, 1922
|

 |
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 whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?
Answer: Angelic. "An angel whispered in her ear, 'Stretch out thy hand.'" —Emanuel Geibel, "As It Often Happens,” The Ridpath Library of Universal Literature by John Clark Ridpath, 1898. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)
|

 |
 Is it true, as Momus
suggests, that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out'"? Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . . THE SHADOW LINE by Joseph ConradOnly the young have such moments. I don't mean the very young. No. They very young have, properly speaking, no moments. It is the privilege of early youth to live in advance of its days in all the beautiful continuity of hope which knows no pauses and no introspection. One closes behind one the little gate of mere boyishness—and enters an enchanted garden. Its very shades glow with promise. Suddenly, a shot rings out.
|

 |
|
 |
 |
Prof. Oddfellow goes into the field (in this case, an icy lake freezing around his precarious canoe) to listen for unicorns. Join the adventure on YouTube or the superior Vimeo. The next morning, only the canoe's wake remains unfrozen (see bottom photo).
Discover Oddfellow's surprising tools for luring unicorns.
|

 |
Nabokov suggests that the "ultimate vision is the incandescence of a book or a box grown completely transparent and hollow. This is, I believe, it: not the crude anguish of physical death but the incomparable pangs of the mysterious mental maneuver needed to pass from one state of being to another." (Transparent Things)
Hans Christian Anderson transparent book by Sam Provoas.
|

 |
|
 |
 |
 "What most people don’t understand is that typography is the use of language that in itself is its own language – one that can take a lifetime to learn and perfect, and that few ever do." — Chip Kidd, The Learners, 2008, via DJMisc --- June adds: "As the saying goes, type is a beautiful group of letters, not a group of beautiful letters." —Matthew Carter
|

 |
INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the puzzle image below to reveal one possible solution.
|




 |
“One day your ship will come. Just wait and see.” —Jeanne Goosen
|

 |
|
 |
 |
Q: What is the difference between a crevice and a question? A: A crevice contracts and expands and holds little bits of darkness like water, shadow and air. A question is something used to plumb the depths of a crevice. — Geof Huth, personal correspondence --- June writes: "What was the question?" —Gertrude Stein on her deathbed
|


 |
|
 |
 |
From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
This piece was inspired by and is dedicated to Gary Barwin.
 |
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. |
|

 |
The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
~ Classic Sightings ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of the Late Thomas Scatcherd.
“He has just enough life to create a presence, a face in the background of the story that is like an image on the other side of the coin.” —Fondazione Federico Fellini
|

 |
|
 |
 |
From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook: This one is for our friend Jeff; we immediately noticed that the name of his mysterious pen pal "Redacted the Jackal" is an anagram of "Jacketed Cathedral."
Jeff writes: Thank you, Craig, and I believe one of my relatives was the model for those shoulder accessories.
|

 |
Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
Since my ancestors fall on both sides of the Wars of the Roses, I could say I'm fiscally Yorkist but socially Lancastrian. --- Jeff quips: And all the while, the resolution to the conflict was only Tudors down.
|

 |
|
 |
 |
I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
"Writing is just the process of reading backwards, of unpacking from the skull what watching has filled the head with." — Geof Huth--- Daryl Griffiths writes: Via beauty of the timing of this statement I am ordered to intervene. From yesterday it certainly arrives and demands to know what time is it today, while hoping it not be tomorrow.
|

 |
From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook: "Wine's skeleton resembles both a corkscrew and a vine." For more eccentricities, see our collection of " Forgotten Wisdom."
 |
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. |
|


 |
|
 |
 |
Here's a literal New Yorker cartoon caption involving a unicorn.
|

 |
The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
~ Classic Sightings ~

Portrait from Melba: A Biography.
“In . . . a face half-clear and half-blurry, he sees the blue reflection of the ghost.” —Charles L. Grant, Shadows 8
To understand what's going on here, see The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine.
|

 |
|
 |
 |
Poet Bob Grumman [in a suddenly missing blog post] uses the subject of one-letter words as an example of a "knowleplex," defined as a "reasonably coherent unified knowledge, practice, use and understanding of some subject." There are five kinds of knowleplexes; which would you guess describes our own dictionary of one-letter words? 1. Academically-Approved Knowleplexes (by 90% of academics) 2. Academically-Tolerated Knowleplexes (insufficient data to approve or disapprove) 3. Academically-Unexamined Knowleplexes (too trivial) 4. Academically-Disapproved Knowleplexes (by 90% of academics) 5. Academically-Denounced Knowleplexes (considered a significant danger to right thinking)
|


 |
|
 |
 |
From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
 |
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. |
|


 |
|
 |
 |
Prof. Oddfellow ventures out, armed with a viewing crystal and The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. Yes — the door knocker is from Warwick Castle; Prof. Oddfellow is related to the first fifteen Earls of Warwick.
|

 |
The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
 |
 |
 |
~ Classic Sightings ~ 
Portrait from Life of P. T. Barnum.
“The ghost of Barnum was not easily exorcised.” —George Lewis Levine, Constructions of the Self
|


 |
 Is it true, as Momus
suggests, that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out'"? Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . . FORBIDDEN TO MARRY by Isabella Banks It has been intimated that Muriel's homecoming had not been the unmixed joy she had anticipated. Suddenly, a shot had rung out.
|


 |
Abracadabra (the red line) rises in popularity in the 1920s.
From our Magic Words outpost: Our intriguing magician friend Chris Philpott posed an interesting question about the preponderance of the two most popular magic words: So since you're The Man on magic words (and you are, whether you like it or not) I have a question for you. My most recent blog was about trying to find various magical applications for Google's Ngram viewer -- as you may know, this is Google's database of all the millions of books they've digitized -- you can enter a word or phrase and see its relative popularity over hundreds of years. I was putting in various magic-related words (like magicians' names and various magic tricks) when I decided to compare the relative popularity of two well-known magic words, Abracadabra and Hocus Pocus. I discovered the word Abracadabra had a huge surge in popularity in the 1920s (comparable to the word Wizard in the 1990s) -- I suspect there's a reason for the surge (probably as clear as J. K. Rowling's influence on the word Wizard), but I can't think what it would be. Any thoughts? Chris, there are actually two very different answers to your question about abracadabra's surge in the 1920s. Here's our first answer: What we see when presented with a chart comparing word density over time from the Google Books scanspace is both something and nothing at all. It's certainly something because we can perceive it, i.e. the charts dazzle us with their jagged edges and numerous nodes, suggesting the compilation of many data. However, the trends that they argue are circular, based as they are only upon the tiny subset of books which Google has scanned from the periods under consideration. If we had it on reliable word that Google had scanned, say, 95% of all extant publications, we should still consider word density measurements statistically insignificant considering that the missing 5% might contain 95% of the contemporary appearances of "abracadabra" in print. Moreover, Google cannot estimate the readership of its catalog, which would be necessary to make any evaluative claims about the familiarity of a word or phrase in common culture or parlance, which is really what the word density charts are attempting to demonstrate. Words used by authors in printed publications which survived until 2010 are not, by themselves, particularly significant. The field of statistics is famous for its bold sleights of hand. Most any contention can be illustrated by a sufficiently culled data set and evaluative methodology. Google's scanned word data are of course too fun not to keep playing with, but we must always bear in mind their inherent balderdash. Here's our second answer: The rise of "abracadabra" in 1920s is the exhalation of a meme's biorhythm. Decades later, the "wizard" meme began its exhalation, and J.K. Rowling rode the wave. We can't even say that Rowling buoyed the wave -- she is merely part and parcel of a grand expansion cycle. Chris responds: I'm not sure I'm 100% with you on J.K. Rowling -- certainly she rode some kind of wave but I think her talent was a wave generator of its own. I suspect if she had called Harry a "mage", then instead of showing The Wizards of Waverly Place, The Disney Channel would now be showing The Mages of Mulberry Lane. Writers are notorious copycats (though the demands of the marketplace tend to accentuate this weakness).
Indeed, Chris, one definition of "meme" is an expression that can be copycatted. (The Greek root is mimema: that which can be mimicked or imitated). Without discounting Rowling's achievements, let's remember that she didn't coin the word "wizard"; it was already a charming Briticism for "excellent." Just as the common cold spreads one handshake at a time (Richard Dawkins has unsavorily called memes "viruses of the mind"), human culture spawns. Rowling, bless her heart, is simply one node of the complex informational network that enables the "wizard" meme to spread and thrive.
|


 |
INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the puzzle image below to reveal one possible solution.
|



Page 0 of 1814


Original Content Copyright © 2019 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
|