As Above, So Below (AKA No Coincidence)

THE MYSTERY, MELANCHOLY, MYTH AND MIRTH OF A STREET

I was looking at the Moon when a car sped past, stirring the air --

At the distance of the Earth-Moon system, the Sun's rays are parallel.

Ut Supra, Sic Infra.

Yet Another Vanishing Building

INVISIBILITY PAINT!

Today it drizzled off and on all day long.  The City of Angels appeared gray, enveloped as it was in a light mist that blurred the boundary between land and sky and seemingly brought everything closer.  One had to exercise particular caution driving because... well, in sunny L.A., the moment raindrops dampen the pavement -- be they ever so precious few -- people seem to forget how to drive.  And thus it was that I was slowly making my way down Western Avenue through the heart of Koreatown, when I happened to notice this odd sight.

In old Warner Bros. cartoon shorts, 'vanishing cream' meant literally that -- you put it on, and you vanished.  Well, it looks like a product like that exists in real life.  Obviously someone had just started to give that building a coat of 'invisibility paint', then had to stop when it started to rain.

Grace

Reminds me of science fiction illustration from the 1950's.

Jacob's Ladder

There are a number of contraptions and all manner of sculptures that have co-opted the biblical moniker, but surely none of them deserves it more than this rainbow-hued phenomenon...

Is That You, Count Orlok?

Paper Crane Project Update

Panel 13!  I haven't counted them, but taking the previous panel of 69 as about average, I figure I should be somewhere in the upper 800's now.  We're on the way!

The Front And The Back Of A Cloud

SAM, THE 'FLIPPED' MAN

As I was pulling out of the office parking lot, I observed this con'trail.

Then, a while later on the freeway, I saw it again -- but this time it was tilted in the opposite direction.  It seems I had driven around it and was now seeing it from the other side.

Now I feel just a little as if I'd gone through Alice's mirror and am now inhabiting the other half of space, like the science fiction character who was turned around his axis through the fourth dimension and became his own mirror image (I wish I could remember the author and title!).  The protagonists of the Korean movie 'Into the Mirror'/거울 속으로 (2003), and the Hollywood movie loosely based on it, 'Mirrors' (2008) [HERE BE MOVIE SPOILERS] suffer somewhat similar fates, although what ultimately happens to them is unknown, since the movies end with their realizing they have 'passed through'.

I don't, however, expect what happened to that unfortunate man in the story to happen to me -- he starved even though he ate normally, because the dextro- and levo- (the right- and left-handed) molecules of the food he ate no longer fit his flipped-over body.  In fact, according to my bathroom scale, I would do well to eat a little less.

On The Way To Vote

The General Election took place on Tuesday the 6th.  As this was the first time I would be voting at the new polling place since moving downtown, I came home early to give myself plenty of time.  As I crossed Hill Street I came upon this cute scene.

According to the campaign button on his hat, the marionette got his wish.

Firebird

Another Blue Sun

More On Invisibility

My preferred method of achieving invisibility, camouflage, has already been discussed.  So this post is about the other, "classic" (or "obvious") method -- Trasnsparency, as illustrated here by the Stealth Crane.

The two above photos reminded me of a short story by Jack London, titled "The Shadow And The Flash".  It's about two rival geniuses who are in competition to develop a method of making objects invisible.  One tackles the problem head-on, by choosing transparency as his objective.  The other goes the less obvious route, by trying to make objects 'perfectly black' (that is, absorbing all light);  I suppose this can be considered an idealized form of invisibility-through-camouflage.

Eventually they both succeed in reaching their objectives and render themselves invisible, each in his respective manner, but they also run up against ineradicable flaws in their methods;  when the transparent man moves, the continuously changing refraction of light causes his body to send forth flashes of rainbow-colored light, alerting others to his presence;  the perfectly dark man, of course, cannot hide his shadow (London glosses over the other obvious problem -- that, even in the shade where his shadow would not be detectable, objects behind the perfectly dark man would be obscured and give away his silhouette).  As for what happened to these men, I shall not spoil it for you -- you should read the story.

With a little assist from a disruptive background, the invisibility effect is greatly enhanced.  The translucent crane in the below photo is not so easily noticed as the colorful paper cranes, despite its size.  I suppose this could be considered a combination of transparency/stealth and camouflage, for the best of both worlds.

 

 

Hallowe'en 2012

LOOKING THE PART

Dressing as the Frankenstein monster or a zombie or a sexy nurse or a Presidential candidate would have been too easy and obvious, so I decided to go for the overthinking eccentric nerd who stares at things.  Because, you know, normally I'm so not an overthinking eccentric nerd who stares at things.

Untitled II

The Next Crow

The Paper Crane Project: Today's Update

This past weekend I went to Little Tokyo and bought some new origami paper.  Today I made a bunch of cranes with it, which are included among the 69 cranes in the last panel.

The World's Shortest Horror Story

Boyfriend:  "Omigod, what in God's name was that?  Are you a witch?  A werewolf?  A mutant?  What IS that horrible thing you turn into?"

Girlfriend:  "Well... I don't turn into that thing... IT TURNS INTO THIS."

Another Crow

Worm Rescue!

I've been curious lately as to why I haven't come across any stranded worms for months.  Have the gardeners been doing something differently?  Are the worms getting smarter?  Are there more birds in the neighborhood?

Anyway, today there was heavy cloud cover, and although there was no rain it was cool and humid all day long.  And sure enough..,

Number of worms saved:  36

Sunbird

Once upon a time I dreamt of a vast eagle, the size of a county perhaps, hovering over the far horizon.  Then last week I chanced upon a cloud formation that reminded me of it.  The dream eagle was 'displayed', to use the heraldic term -- that is, 'spread eagle' with its head pointing up -- and so was the cloud;  however, I chose to present the cloud in this orientation because I felt it was more immediately recognizable as a bird-shape this way.

Still, just for the record here is how the eagle properly 'should' be presented, the way I saw it both in the dream and in waking life:

Movie Villains Have Such Cool Powers

And these last few weeks I was particularly envious of a certain 007 heavy with a really great set of teeth.  Of titanium, I think.

It turned out I had a cracked molar, and infection had set in.  I had to have it pulled.  It was like -- well, pulling teeth.  Then I spent the rest of the day a little fog-headed on painkillers.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I was not.

Entr'acte The Next

Thick Sky

More from the recent wet morning.

Wet Morning

Another strangely dreamlike image from waking life...

Dinocloud Returns!

How glad I am to see that it's still around, apparently in good health (don't know if the term can be applied to beings made of cloud, though) and still as hungry as ever, from the looks of it.

I first spotted 'Dino' four and a half years ago, in April, 2008, when it was clearly a juvenile.  I have observed it twice more subsequently, the last time being nearly a year ago -- when it had grown up and also grown enormously fat.  And of course, I duly photographed it each time and posted the pictures here.   It looks like Dino has shed a good deal of that weight since then, and I'm glad for it.  But I guess it's possible that it's just a normal growth phase this species goes through.

It's interesting to see that, apparently, as cloud creatures grow and mature, their proportions change just as those of humans do, the most obvious changes being visible in the head;  the relatively large, bulbous cranium and small face have progressively given way to a more defined, boxier head and a proportionately larger snout (is it beginning to sprout a trunk, perhaps?), just as human heads take on a larger jawed, less rounded look as people age.

Speaking Of Sinister Cloud Monsters

WHAT THE HECK

I shot this cloud because I thought its distinct, solid shape was interesting.  Only later did I notice the scary eye...!

It goes without saying that "If you can see them, they can see you".  Have Cloud Creatures caught on to the fact that I can see them, and are they keeping an eye on me?