Monday, January 30, 2012

Cloud Creature At Dusk

They've been shy in recent months, but today while driving home from work I spotted one and took this nice shot of it.


I don't know if Cloud Creatures come in different species and genera, but this one is strikingly similar in appearance to another one that appears in the antique photograph shown below, which dates back 100 years (oh, all right, so I took the photo just a few years ago^) -- allowing for a certain indefiniteness of outline owing to the gaseous/plasmoidal nature of their bodies, of course:



 
They both follow an elegantly simple, streamlined, fish- or shrimp-like body plan, with a large head that accounts for a third of the overall length of the body, a well-defined jaw and a noticeable cinch or 'joint' at the neck (which gives the head a hard, even bony, appearance -- which is extremely curious given that these creatures are not made of any solid substance), and from there tapering toward a split tail.  Also note what seems to be a tentacle at the top of the head, retracted in today's specimen and extended in the older one (the one in today's photo seems to be flying upside down, but this cannot be unusual for creatures native to the freedom of an atmospheric existence).  The only obvious difference is that the one in the older photograph has what seems to be an eye in what would be the normal spot for it in a terrestrial animal (expand the photo for a better look), and today's specimen apparently does not, but that could be due to the low level of illumination.  I would not be at all surprised if these two individuals belonged to the same, or at least closely related, species.

Related posts:  #1. The Growth and Maturation of a Predatory Cloud;  #2. A Cloud Found!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

Shades Of Nuremberg, 1561

I was just organizing the photos from last week when I noticed an interesting image.  For clarity I enhanced the color and contrast a bit, but the image itself is unchanged.



The multiplied reflections of the Sun reminded me of a famous incident that supposedly occurred in the skies over Nuremberg, Germany in 1561.  It is said that cylindrical objects appeared in the sky, from which emerged numerous round objects of different colors.  Various other forms resembling weapons also appeared and they all began to maneuver in a manner that suggested they were engaged in battle, in consequence of which the people were very much frightened.  Below is a woodcut illustrating the event executed by Hans Glaser in 1566.


The discs in the illustration are tantalizingly similar to the reflections in the photograph.  Could they have been optical illusions of a similar nature, somehow created in the open air by rare atmospheric conditions?  The woodcut suggests a very exciting scene, making it look as if countless UFOs were whizzing around at high speed, but of course word-of-mouth transmissions of extraordinary phenomena have a way of outgrowing their original frames.  If multiple images of the Sun were somehow projected, say onto a layer of mist at high altitude, discolored and distorted by refraction and moving and changing as the mist moved, then that would be more than enough to start the mythmaking process going.  As the story was told and retold over days and weeks, spreading from town to town and acquiring various enhancements and exaggerations with each retelling, a small number of slow-moving, roundish reflections and patchesof glowing mist around the sun could easily have been transformed into a much larger number and variety of shapes moving at high speeds.

Not saying that's what must have happened -- and I'd love it if this strange event were somehow proved to a genuine mystery, and a swarm of UFOs really filled the skies over Nuremberg one day in the 16th century;  but as the saying goes, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

Last Week It Rained

And so, of course...


Number of worms rescued so far:  35

Driving Home In January


ACTUALLY, 'ABOUT TO' DRIVE HOME IN JANUARY

Related post:  Driving To Work In January (2012)

Dry Bird



Related post:  Wet Bird

Sunday, January 22, 2012

A Rather Jungian Reflection

On numerous occasions over many years I have encountered in dreams a certain aspect or aspects of my mind in specific female forms.  Or in the guise of what may be an animal equivalent, as cats.  It/they may appear in light or dark guise.


When it's a light female it is what I have come to call The Sunny Blonde.  She is alluring and smiling.  She exudes erotic attraction, and sometimes she seems to literally glow with glorious beauty.  Once she appeared as a hitchhiker who asked me to save her from a sinister stalker by driving her to a police station.


When it's a dark female -- and the Dark Woman has made many more appearances than the Sunny Blonde -- it is sometimes an Asian woman with flowing black hair, but more often she is an actual black woman.  And once it was a pale, goth-styled poetess from New York with black-dyed hair, dressed in a black vinyl coat and working by candlelight in a previously unknown extension of my sleeping loft (this image seems to be a synthesis of someone I knew in real life and images from Balthus' early black-and-white illustrations for Wuthering Heights).  When it is a cat it is a black kitten -- however, on one occasion both a white and a black kitten appeared together.


Several nights ago the Dark One made two appearances in one night.  First it was a slim, attractive young black woman.  I remember hooking pinky fingers with her in a gesture of promis.  Then in a second dream it appeared again, as a black kitten that licked me.  I wonder what was the message that was so important/urgent that it needed to be delivered twice, and both times with emphatic physical contact?  I wish I could have asked it.


One thing I do know is that, among whatever other things, it is somehow bound up with my spiritual yearnings, because my earliest memory of the Dark Woman is that she was a prostitute waiting for me in the 'parking lot of Tibet', and for me (as for many people, obviously) Tibet has always stood for mystery and mystic knowledge.  Why a prostitute?  Possibly a symbol of the same thing represented in Tantric art by mating pairs of male deity and female consort;  a union of complementary principles.

Related post: Eve,  The Temptation of Eve,  The Birth of Venus

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Yet More Random Order

If the whole universe were this neatly and regularly arranged... life would probably be simpler and easier.  Things would fit together nicely and they would actually make sense.  Logic would be unnecessary, because everything would already be logical, including our minds and brains.

At the same time though, for humans there probably would be less room for spontaneity, creative play and plain messy fun.  Maybe angels, with their absolute knowledge of right and wrong and good and evil, and no need for independent thinking apart from the Divine Will, have vision like this (in the movie Wings of Desire angels see in black-and-white only, symbolizing the absolutism of their 'thinking').  And I'm 100% absolutely certain this is normal vision for the BORG.

THE LIFE OF A VISUAL OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE

Related posts:  More Random OrderOrder, Order Everywhere

A Rare Pair of Conjoined ConTrails

The 'head' of one joined to the 'tail' of another -- Siamese contrails.  In human terms, this would be a double disaster.

MONSTER VAPOR TRAIL

Poor Little Lost Heart

Lying abandoned on the pavement, where it was dropped unnoticed by someone.


Monday, January 16, 2012

Snail Rescue

This actually happened several days ago.  I was going out for a lunchtime walk as usual when I spotted this small dark lump on the glass of the lobby window.  At first I thought some joker had stuck a wad of gum there, but upon closer inspection it turned out to be a snail.




I decided it had to be relocated.  It was not in any immediate danger, but once the gardeners took notice it would most likely have been chucked in the garbage or killed outright.


I hope being plucked off the glass didn't cause it injury.



This was the most I could do under the circumstances.  I don't even know if snails eat wet ivy, but probably they can, since I see snails everywhere around the office whenever it rains, and all the unpaved parts of the grounds are covered with either this or grass.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Another Three-Legged Doodle

Executed today while waiting for lunch to arrive at my favorite Thai restaurant.


This one reminds me of the sinister but cool tripod fighting machines from War of the Worlds (the 2005 version with Tom Cruise), which were visualized as having flexi-bendy-springy legs, as in this poster.


Related post:  Dinner Doodle

Friday, January 13, 2012

Another Almost-Story

'THE EYE LASER BEAMS OF HYPERION'

THE TITAN SPORTING RATHER A MESO-AMERICAN PROFILE

Related Posts:  Helios IHelios IIAn Almost-Story

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Driving To Work In January (2012)

Second year I'm posting under this title -- beginning of a personal tradition, perhaps?


Related Post:  Driving To Work In January (2011)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Monday, January 9, 2012

Organs - The Ones On The Left & The Ones On The Right

Organs - mine and Venus'.  They deserved a post of their own.  Riddle of the day.

BEAUTIFUL INNARDS

Related post:  The Birth of Venus

Sunday, January 8, 2012

A Doodle From Last Week

It's a bigger, more elaborate version of my usual 'telephone doodle'.  It kind of looks like an anatomical chart, a maze game, a petroglyph, and a whole bunch of other things, but I think it looks most like a map.

One question:  Once a man finds that a map of his unconscious mind looks like this, should he be worried?


A Dramatic Pair

THE NOVICE WITCH FELL OFF, BUT THE CAT WAS AN OLD HAND^

A reversal of the usual light-on-top-and-shadow-on-the-bottom trope.  I am reminded that, from personality traits of individuals to cultural characteristics of entire societies, every bright thing comes with its shadow, and without dark light would not be noticeable.


SINISTER BLACK CAT FLYING THE BROOM BY ITSELF

Saturday, January 7, 2012

A ConTrail Twisted Around An Airplane

MYSTERY SOLVED?

Maybe this explains how twisty contrails are formed -- an airplane passes very close to a straight contrail, grazes one edge of it and causes it to twist around^

A WELL-TIMED SHOT

Wednesday, January 4, 2012