Thus revealed, the creature buried its nose in the tire-tilled soil...
September 4, 2006
Then they will hiss and rip your limbs off.
Category: Fiction? … Linkage … SC Updates

Something really strange and sad happened on Friday that I want to write about shortly, but in the meantime I thought I'd note that part 3 of The Absolute Strangest Christmas Story Ever Told is up on Scary-Crayon. Here's my favorite excerpt:

Be careful down there! I hear that there are ill-tempered spiders in the darkness... black, richly furred creatures as big as cats and that scurry about heavily on legs as thick as the poles of street signs, which they never have cause to obey because there are no roads, paved or unpaved, that run through the lowermost sections of old library buildings. The eyes of these fearsome spiders glow red with menace and bloodlust, but I hear that, if you bring them jack-o-lantern shaped pails filled to the brim with sugar, they will cease their demonic machinations long enough to allow you to pet them (I hear their fur, though evil, as it grows from their fat, vicious arachnid bodies, is quite soft and pleasing to the touch). Then they will hiss and rip your limbs off. So again, I warn you -- be careful! Bring lots of cloth bandages and a cell phone, for you'll have to call someone by pressing the keys with your tongue after the spiders thoroughly feasted on your severed appendages. Having a friend with a wheelbarrow on the speed dial wouldn't hurt -- which is good, because you'll be in enough pain as it is.

I've also been pretty into paper crafts lately following my ongoing Dalek-making project, so here's a semi-neat one I came across involving an optical illusion dragon. I made two. The reality doesn't fool me at all (though it is a cool model), but the interesting thing is that when I filmed it with my digicam, the illusion totally works in the video. But then, I can't see magic eye puzzles either. Note that while this page attempts to provide an explanation -- not for this particular problem, but for Spy Kids 3D and 3D-type stuff in general -- that the illusion works when viewed by the camera's monocular lense seems to debunk it. It's also worth noting that the illusion failed for me even when I wore my glasses.

Alrighty then. Ja ne!

-posted by Wes | 5:48 am | Comments (4)
4 Comments »
  • Wes says:

    Further investigation has led me to conclude that the illusion is actually facilitated by monocular vision, as the capacity to percieve the depth of the head cavity ruins the image. With one eye closed -- whether I'm wearing my glasses or not -- the dragons appear to eye me eerily. 🙂

    There should be one that looks like a parrot -- pirates would get a kick out of it.

  • agustinaldo says:

    Talking about pirates, I bet you like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, since they have ghosts, zombies, sea monsters and hellish curses, all of which seem to appeal to you.

  • Wes says:

    Those things do appeal to me, yes, but wouldn't you know that I haven't seen either of the Pirates films? I rarely make it to the theater and don't often buy DVDs that exceed $8, to say nothing of the fact that I generally tend to ignore Hollywood and mainstream productions in favor of independent and obscure (or foreign) film fare. I get around to watching them eventually (sometimes), but I'd much rather check out the stuff I've never heard of than the stuff I'll still be hearing about six years from now.

  • keeper says:

    Very fascinating, but I hate all things that challenge my concept of reality. And makes me want to ask, what is reality?

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