Living, Loving and Writing in Providence, RI
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Tuesday Rumors: MIrror Edition
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Mood:
reflective
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Reading: Starcombing by David Langford
Music: Bill Monroe
TV/Movie: Art School Confidential
Link o' the Day: Judges Guild covers
Ever wonder about mirrors? Of course you have!
Based on various dig sites in southern Europe, Asia, and Africa, archaeologists believe that the mirror was one of the earliest inventions to have ever been developed by early man--before the wheel and spear, but after fire.
An early Sony prototype for high-definition TV allowed mirrors shown on-screen to reflect the image of the viewer. The special process, however, requires four times the usual power requirements and often resulted in console meltdowns.
Walt Disney was afraid of mirrors, as was John Wayne and Montezuma.
The tradition of seven years bad luck when breaking a mirror has its origins in the legend of St. Barnabus, a 3rd century hermit who lived atop a column in Damascus. He would use the mirror to signal villagers nearby when he required food or water. He accidently dropped the mirror and it broke it. The villagers assumed that God was providing for him and no one checked in on him for seven years.
Due to light refraction in the atmosphere, typical mirrors will not work on Jupiter.
Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst so loved his reflection that he arranged for the inside of his mausoleum to be completely covered in mirrors, and for the lid of his own coffin to feature a full-length mirror.
Austrian artist Jager Muell installed over 5,000 mirrors throughout Vienna. Each mirror was angled in such a way so that a viewer standing at the entrance to the Vienna zoo could gaze into the directly into the kitchen of his mother's house which was located 20 kilometers away, just outside the city.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Anyone remember a game publisher from the late 70s/early80s called Judges Guild? No? Well, it was really old school RPG'ing. They were known for their cheap art, but pretty decent gameplay. And they were often a bit cheaper than the official TSR and related products. For those who remember those heady days when roleplaying games were still new and weird, here's a page with covers from a lot of those early publications. Fun little wayback stuff.
Cheers!
Music: Bill Monroe
TV/Movie: Art School Confidential
Link o' the Day: Judges Guild covers
Ever wonder about mirrors? Of course you have!
Based on various dig sites in southern Europe, Asia, and Africa, archaeologists believe that the mirror was one of the earliest inventions to have ever been developed by early man--before the wheel and spear, but after fire.
An early Sony prototype for high-definition TV allowed mirrors shown on-screen to reflect the image of the viewer. The special process, however, requires four times the usual power requirements and often resulted in console meltdowns.
Walt Disney was afraid of mirrors, as was John Wayne and Montezuma.
The tradition of seven years bad luck when breaking a mirror has its origins in the legend of St. Barnabus, a 3rd century hermit who lived atop a column in Damascus. He would use the mirror to signal villagers nearby when he required food or water. He accidently dropped the mirror and it broke it. The villagers assumed that God was providing for him and no one checked in on him for seven years.
Due to light refraction in the atmosphere, typical mirrors will not work on Jupiter.
Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst so loved his reflection that he arranged for the inside of his mausoleum to be completely covered in mirrors, and for the lid of his own coffin to feature a full-length mirror.
Austrian artist Jager Muell installed over 5,000 mirrors throughout Vienna. Each mirror was angled in such a way so that a viewer standing at the entrance to the Vienna zoo could gaze into the directly into the kitchen of his mother's house which was located 20 kilometers away, just outside the city.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Anyone remember a game publisher from the late 70s/early80s called Judges Guild? No? Well, it was really old school RPG'ing. They were known for their cheap art, but pretty decent gameplay. And they were often a bit cheaper than the official TSR and related products. For those who remember those heady days when roleplaying games were still new and weird, here's a page with covers from a lot of those early publications. Fun little wayback stuff.
Cheers!
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