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An illustration from an 1866 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from a 1900 issue of Punch magazine. |
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"I thought you dead, or fairy bait." — Jackie Ashton, The White Swans of FalThis fairy on a hook appears in Punch, 1842.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from a 1902 issue of Punch magazine. |
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An illustration from an 1859 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [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.] |
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Floram Marchand, The Water-Spouter, depicted in The Book of Wonderful Characters: Memoirs and Anecdotes of Remarkable and Eccentric Persons in all Ages and Countries, Chiefly from the Text of Henry Wilson and James Caulfield, 1869. Image via Bibliodyssey.
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Alex Baze once tweeted, "Mom has left town, and with her, most of New York City's Splenda packets." Here's a precursor from Cornhill magazine, 1860. The caption reads, "Where the sugar goes." |
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That pecular dread of being run over by ducks. By Raphael Kirchner, in a 1916 issue of Puck magazine.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from an 1855 issue of Punch magazine. The caption reads: "Interesting group posed for a daguerreotype, by a dear friend of the family . . . Interesting and valuable result."
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| [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.] |
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Here's a precursor to Thomas the Tank Engine from an 1850 issue of Punch magazine. |
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A surrealist illustration from a 1906 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "I gazed over into a crumbling formation of hot ashes."
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| [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.] |
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Followers of our unicorn research might be intrigued by our latest collaboration with the living legend of magic and mentalism, Kenton Knepper. We developed a novel system for determining how one's personality type aligns with nine historical unicorns. We also include another world exclusive: a system for identifying one's totem mythological hybrid beastie. Secret symbolism, shamanism, mythology and psychology — it's all part of what we call Myth Logic Readings.
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As bee populations decline worldwide, scientists remain reluctant to address the needless destruction wrought by angels. An illustration from an 1868 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [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.] |
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Entropy's the patron saint of patterns that disintegrate. —a lyric from the Silly Pillows' "Soliloquy to Entropy" (1989)
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| Who is your favorite imaginary saint? Do share! |
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| A printed collection of A Fine Line Between... is now available from Amazon.com. |
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From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
The text reads: "I’ll tell you something else … that you can’t know, because a man’s got to be old to know this, that the more ashes there are on the top of a living heart the longer it’ll burn.” — Merlin, in John Cowper Powys’ novel Porius
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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. |
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An illustration from an 1860 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
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"Listen, you know as well as I do that the only certainty around here is that things are never going to get back to normal, don't you?" — David Moody, Autumn: The City (2011) |
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 "There are no miles in a bottle of ink." (So said an old advertisement for Goodyear Tires.) This may surprise you, but the fact that there are no miles in a bottle of ink thwarted cartographers for centuries.
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An illustration from an 1853 issue of Punch magazine. |
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Though we have raised the price of our field guide to identifying unicorns by sound so as to discourage the general public from seeing its contents, exceptional people are reviewing it. This review is by someone who previously reviewed only two other items at Amazon: a window fan and a Wi-Fi connector of some sort: I've always been inclined to assume that I have never seen a unicorn, but I hadn't even finished reading the introduction when my assumption was challenged by a simple question: "How many bird watchers have spied a warbler perched upon a tapered branch, never dreaming that the selfsame branch is, in actuality, a unicorn's horn?" It's a problem. Vision is an unreliable tool under the best conditions, and as the author points out, "there are great odds that a unicorn will approach from one of your many blind spots." This, of course, to remind us that the most troublesome blind spot of all — in the center of our field of vision, where the optic nerve is connected — is filled in by the brain. Thus, the mind that rejects the existence of unicorns is unlikely to fill that empty optical space with a unicorn. This leaves sound as the only reliable ally. More than a collection of unicorn-sound waveforms and beyond its value as a compendium of unicorn knowledge, the book calls on us to stare with our ears, as Ken Nordine intended. "My unicorn can whisper strange things when I want him to, and sometimes when I don’t." —Larry Niven, as quoted in A Field Guide to Identifying Unicorns by SoundThanks, Jeff! |
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An illustration from a 1906 issue of Puck magazine. Speaking of which, one of the many things we admire about our British brethren is that they've long been consciously aware that they've slipped down the rabbit hole. So very few nations realize they're in Wonderland.
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| [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.] |
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Voluntary and involuntary clairvoyance: three illustrations from The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception by Max Heindel (1911).
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| [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.] |
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Blowhard wasn't exactly the word he was looking for: a still from Bewitched.
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An illustration from a 1917 issue of Puck magazine.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from an 1853 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [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.] |
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We're astonished to receive, in spite of an omission of biblical proportions, a five-star review of our unicorn field guide: The book is nothing if not thorough in reproducing what seems to be everything ever said anywhere in literature pertaining to the sounds made by unicorns. Listening for all of these will charge your humdrum, everyday reality with magic, or at least give it some zip. Conley's omission of the many references to the unicorn in the King James Bible, however, is a puzzler (see Nu 23:22; 24:8; Dt 33:17; Job 39: 9-12; Pss 22:21; 29:6; 92:10; Isa 34:7). Surely Conley knows that fundamentalist champions of the KJV in their millions would find themselves theologically bound to agree with him in presuming the existence of unicorns. Was this deliberate? And if so, was the omission a contemptuous snub or a gesture of respect? I'm almost tempted to deduct a star, but I'm going to take this as a refusal to divide his audience by religion, seeing as how fundamentalist bashers are at least as vocal and nasty as the worst of their targets, and it would be difficult to hear even the clumsiest unicorn over the cantankerous clatter that could result. —Dan Olson
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An illustration from an 1855 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from a 1917 issue of Puck magazine.
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| [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.] |
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"It's really happening. I know it's crazy. I know it's fast. But I don't care about any of that. In my heart, I knew the moment I saw you. And every moment since then has only made me more certain." — Christine Rimmer, The Prince's Secret Baby (2012) |
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"The sky is pocked with stars. What eyes the wise men must have had to see a new one in so many. I wonder, were there fewer stars then? I don't know. I fancy there's a mystery in it." — The Lion in WinterOur illustration appears in Pleasant Hours, 1887.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from a 1901 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [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.] |
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This precursor to Salvador Dalí is entitled "Wednesday, August 14, 1867." From Punch. |
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Hilda: Dylan Thomas was right, you know. Evadne: About what? Hilda: Everything. — Dear Ladies |
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Q: The average man's IQ is 107. The average brown trout's IQ is 4. So why can't a man catch a brown trout? A: Lower-tech animals can be much quicker. ( Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works, 2009) |
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Here's a precursor to the Coen brothers' baby-snatching comedy Raising Arizona, from an 1869 issue of Pleasant Hours. The caption reads: "'Wife, here is your Christmas present!' he called out, as he placed the boy in her arms." |
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"Among the Bunnies": an illustration from an 1890 issue of Punch magazine.
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The concept of de-evolution is that humankind is regressing, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society. The idea was developed in the late 1960s by the founders of the band Devo. Could they have been inspired by this 1964 episode of Bewitched? |
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Here's a sword suspension from 1848, about a year before Robert-Houdin debuted his famous broomstick illusion. From Punch. |
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A glass bottle from modern civilization is tossed into another world: an unmistakable precursor to the 1980 comedy film The Gods Must Be Crazy. From Punch, 1902. |
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An illustration from an 1859 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [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.] |
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 "What with everything else you may be quite surprised to know that I produced an essay of 13 pages this week." — Edward Boyle: His Life (1991)
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Heat imps: an illustration from an 1890 issue of Puck magazine.
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| [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.] |
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| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
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To those who praised me for not being the least bit affected by a U.K. reader's colorful broadside against one of my books ("STOP producing useless works of nothingness" and "The best use of this work would be to shred it for hamster bedding"), I must confess that I hadn't been aware of the review; I was frankly too busy working on useless nothingness! However, the review is absolutely correct that my book (and, truth be told, my entire body of work) is marvelous for hamster bedding. I challenge hamster caretakers worldwide to purchase any one of my books, shred it, and verify that it's the best hamster bedding nobody ever used. Send photos and results to the e-mail address provided here. |
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1 + 1 = 3, for large values of 1.
Photo of Mike by Prof. Oddfellow.
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"Poems come in two colors: grey and beige (ecru having been killed off a few years back)." — Geof Huth
Photo courtesy of Rhian.
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"I mean the deer thing was a long time ago. Why bring it up now?" — Stevi Mittman, Who Makes Up These Rules, Anyway? (2006) Here's a "deer thing" from a 1908 issue of The Windsor Magazine. The caption reads, "The thing came away from the head." [For Gary Barwin.]
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| [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.] |
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We're glad to have contributed a photograph to " Imagination Made Real," an article about the architecture of Portmeirion, Wales. |
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An illustration from a 1900 issue of Punch magazine. The caption reads: "Watchman: What of the Night?"
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| [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.] |
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Our best feedback tends to come from outside our target market. For example, we just received a 5-star review for our highly unusual manual on ampersands, by someone who accidentally bought it: This book was ordered by mistake. But it was one of those little gems. Get a copy & judge for yourself. |
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Here's a precursor to The Matrix (1999), from a 1968 episode of Bewitched. Larry takes the red pill. |
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An illustration from an 1854 issue of Punch magazine. |
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"[He] says, apropos of nothing in that sunny afternoon's affable, inconsequential banter, and in crisply enunciated, declamatory English: 'The world, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams, so various, beautiful, so new, hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help from pain; and we are here as on a darklling plain swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight where ignorant armies clash by night." — Mark Leyner, The Tetherballs of Bougainville: A Novel (2011)
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From our former outpost at Twitter: An illiterate rated my unicorn guide 1-star; as I told my 1st grade teacher: no thanks, I have my own stars at home.
Unicorn stars courtesy of zoomar.
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An illustration from an 1865 issue of Punch magazine.
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| [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.] |
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"The secret enemy of teeth": an illustration from a 1917 issue of Saturday Evening Post magazine.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from a 1906 issue of Puck magazine.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from an 1889 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "I have an apple seed in the appendicula veriformis."
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| [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.] |
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We're all familiar with the concept of a "recurring dream." But here's a serious question: could that concept itself be imaginary? Take this "real world" example: last night we dreamt of not being surprised by two guys who suddenly had red afros. It wasn't a lucid dream, but our dream self wasn't surprised by an otherwise unexpected turn of events because it was all a re-run, as it were. Here's the key issue: if a dream narrative suggests that one's dream character has seen it all before, isn't that by extension a fiction because it's a part of the script? (As James Hillman reminds us in The Dream and the Underworld, dreams aren't real.) Now, if one keeps a dream diary and over the years there are several mentions of red afros, does this say less about dreams and more about living the same day over and over, à la Nietzsche's theory of eternal recurrence? |
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Jonathan: Whatever happened to Roquefort dressing? Hilary: It just turned into "bleu cheese" dressing, right? Jonathan: They didn't coexist for a while, like Neanderthal and Cro Magnon? Oddfellow: Yes, but only after the Pre-Camemberian Era, a span of very hard cheeses. [Did you know that cheesemaking colanders have been discovered amongst Roquefort-sur-Soulzon's prehistoric relics?] [Also: not only did cavemen invent the cheese wheel, but they also invented bleu cheese. We present, collaged for your convenience, Exhibit A below: Rogue Creamery's Caveman Blue.]
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One of the many tools we use to create Abecedarian. (To paraphrase Teresa at Frog Blog.) From Punch, 1854.
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| [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.] |
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Original Content Copyright © 2019 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
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It "will only be funny if it is delivered dead seriously."
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
