#implied: frances edison

[magicalincorrectrobodokiquotes]

"Où Est Le Cheesecake?" Clip

“AY, RICKY!” Future!Nate waved. “C’MON!”

“Ye’ll never guess who I bumped into, a few rows ‘way from us.” Ricardo grinned.

“Judging by the accent, I have an idea.” Arianna mused.

“Polly’s visiting! Apparently they booked a similar tour to go visit Tippet’s family.” Future!Nate did not want to correct him. He was happy enough, anyways.

“Facts.” Past!Tippet sighed.

“INCOMING!” Polly laughed as she, Arthur, Edgar, Emily, Gertrude, Henry, Agatha and Theodore got off the bus while Wheeler used the ramp.

“You wanna go to the Louvre after we eat this shortcake?” Past!Booloo’s mouth watered as she glanced at the cakes in the window.

“CAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!” May grinned.

“Okay, the bus just left, so while Ray-Ray’s busy, the 10 of us are gonna have a great time out on the town.” Emily beamed.

She then paused, did a quick headcount, and looked pale.

“What?” Polly looked worried.

“There WERE 10 of us on the bus, right?” Emily looked at the group.

(pic coming soon)

[wikiuntamed]

Five steps of Wikipedia for Saturday, 22nd July 2023

Welcome, Benvenuta, こんにちは, שלום 🤗 Five steps of Wikipedia from "Auchonvillers Military Cemetery" to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film)". 🪜👣

Start page 👣🏁: Auchonvillers Military Cemetery "The Auchonvillers Military Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. The cemetery contains soldiers who died manning the Allied front line near the village of Auchonvillers...."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by Wernervc

Step 1️⃣ 👣: Cemetery "A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word cemetery (from Greek κοιμητήριον 'sleeping place') implies that the land is specifically designated as a burial ground and originally applied to the Roman..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0? by Ctny

Step 2️⃣ 👣: A Greek–English Lexicon "A Greek–English Lexicon, often referred to as Liddell & Scott () or Liddell–Scott–Jones (LSJ), is a standard lexicographical work of the Ancient Greek language originally edited by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Henry Stuart Jones, and Roderick McKenzie and published in 1843 by the Oxford..."

Step 3️⃣ 👣: Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) "Alice is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Lewis Carroll's children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass (1871). A child in the mid-Victorian era, Alice unintentionally goes on an underground adventure after falling down a rabbit..."

Image by John Tenniel

Step 4️⃣ 👣: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1910 film) "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a 10-minute black-and-white silent film made in the United States in 1910, and is based on Lewis Carroll's 1865 book of the same name. Made by the Edison Manufacturing Company and directed by Edwin S. Porter, the film starred Gladys Hulette as Alice. Being a..."

Image by Edison Manufacturing Company and Edwin S. Porter (director)

Step 5️⃣ 👣: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film) "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a 1972 British musical film directed by Australian filmmaker William Sterling, based on Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel of the same name and its 1871 sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. It had a distinguished ensemble cast and a musical score composed by John Barry with..."

[armouredgoblin]

I only did some actual research to confirm or deny my own opinions. Learning a bit more about HP Lovecraft himself does help to contextualize some of his views. I checked a range of sources just to be safe and found that I am right in some aspects as he was a product of his own time. Some of those views including the disliking of the Irish. During the mid to late 1800's they were having a bad time thanks to the English (Potato blight) so there was a mass exodus to America in order to get away from it. Later in the 1840- 50's the new movement which was a nativist movement creating the "Irish Need not apply" for jobs and whatnot. (Source: https://www.history.com/news/when-america-despised-the-irish-the-19th-centurys-refugee-crisis ) He was a well travelled man for his time and did a lot of writing about those travels. The next section was grabbed from a website which will be linked below it: Lovecraft travelled often and wrote at length about those travels. His travelogues include “Vermont—A First Impression” (1927), “Observations on Several Parts of America” (1928), “Travels in the Provinces of America” (1929), “An Account of a Visit to Charleston” (1930), and A Description of the Town of Quebeck, in New France, Lately Added to His Britannick Majesty’s Dominions. At 75,000 words, Quebeck was Lovecraft’s longest work (roughly 50% longer than The Case of Charles Dexter Ward), and he described it as “136 pages of this crabbed cacography.” His travels took him as far south as De Land, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana; as far west as Cleveland, Ohio; as far north as Quebec, Canada; and out to the island of Nantucket for a week. Hardly a “recluse.” (Source: https://www.hplovecraft.com/life/myths.aspx)

His fear of the unknown or new is a semi understandable one. It was mostly about the new technologies of the time. He was extremely weary about how it would affect things such as economy and politics

All I want is to know things. The black gulph of the infinite is before me . . . I have no use for the machine age or any of its conceptions, methods, & ideals. I have use only for abstract cognition without social or utilitarian connotations; the thing which Thales & Anaxagoras & Heraclitus went after, & which was clearly definable by the word philosophy until those pragmatical puffballs Socrates & Plato threw a monkey-wrench into the works & crippled human thought for the next two millennia. Now it is a matter of perfect indifference to me whether or not baser interests cluster round the search for truth & lick the molasses-drops that ooze out of the fact-barrel. This apelike parasitism of the herd means nothing either for or against the abstract is-or-isn't quest which Thales began, Democritus continued, & Einstein prolongs. If machine-culture chooses to worship "science", that's its own business. It doesn't imply that the abstract process of cognition-craving turns about & reciprocally worships machine-culture! . . . Cognition, as such, is completely without social or aesthetic implications except so far as it places certain obvious contradictions of natural laws, & certain pointless exaltations of empty trivialities, in a light so unfavourable as to encourage obsolescence. It is nobody's tool or handmaiden—it is itself alone. Practically speaking, the mind likely to worship pure cognition most sincerely is that most of all opposed to industrialism & standardisation. Cognition is that branch of human desire & celebration most antipodally removed from anything envisaged or wished by Thomas A. Edison, Henry Ford, & the late Charles P. Steinmetz. It is the enemy of urban civilisation as it is the enemy of all handicaps which cripple the free individualistic excursions of the disinterested intellect into unknown cosmic space. It is the sworn ally of beauty because it is itself one of the supreme forms of beauty—the catharsis of a primal, titanic urge which links man to the uttermost gulfs of dramatic immensity. It is one with the greatest music & the loftiest poetry—being perhaps a glimpse of the liberating & expanding reality which both are blindly seeking.

Letter to Frank Belknap Long (February 27, 1931), in Selected Letters III, 1929-1931 edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, p. 300 (Taken from Wiki Quotes)

Reading the above was interesting and took a few goes for me to understand it but I don't think I will ever be able to get in the same mindset that he held during the time of penning the letter.

As for his beliefs on his bloodline. I cannot say as I couldnt find anything in the brief time that wasnt a reddit post that didnt cite any sources. Finally politically held various views including when he went through the great depression

This letter to Catherine Moore, written in the final year of his life, is an incredible document for a fan of Lovecraft. To hear him rail against “plutocracy” and capitalism is quite interesting, not to mention his explicit repudiation of his younger self, which most of his fans conceive to be Lovecraft.

“Capitalism is dying from internal as well as external causes, & its own leaders & beneficiaries are less & less able to kid themselves. I’m no economist, but from recent reading I’ve been able to form a rough picture of the dilemma—the need to restrict consumers’ goods & to pile up a needless plethora of producing equipment in order to maintain the irrational surplus called profit—which has caused orthodox economists like Hayek & Robbins to admit that only starvation wages & artificial scarcity could stabilize the profit system in future & avert increasing cyclical depressions of utterly destructive scope. Laissez-faire capitalism is dead—make no mistake about that. The only avenue of survival for plutocracy is a military & emotional fascism whereby millions of persons will be withdrawn from the industrial arena & placed on a dole or in concentration-camps with high-sounding patriotic names. That or socialism—take your choice. … All this from an antiquated mummy who was on the other side until 1931! Well—I can better understand the inert blindness & defiant ignorance of the reactionaries from having been one of them. I know how smugly ignorant I was…”

His harshest words in this letter are for capitalism, which he describes as a “crazy orgy” of “legalised” corruption. Under capitalism, he writes, “the chief corruption is actually legalised under the name of private profit”.

“Industry should be socialised by degrees, & only as soon as the mass of the people are ready to back up the various absorptive moves. The government must dictate hours & wages, & see that employment is universally spread. If private industry can meet such rigidly enforced demands, well & good. If not—& it probably can’t—absorption will be in order.”

He’s in favor of gradual socialization rather than violent revolution, and he pokes fun at Marxists (who hasn’t?).

“I can’t see that socialism would hurt anybody who is willing to work & who expects a just return from the work he performs—including guarantees of proper security in old age & in times of necessary unemployment or disability.”

“A few can reason, & can see that capitalism is automatically doomed by the natural course of economics unless upheld by fascist bayonets.”

One passage of the letter to Moore echoes Rosa Luxemburg’s famous “socialism or barbarism” slogan:

“The only avenue of survival for plutocracy is a military & emotional fascism whereby millions of persons will be withdrawn from the industrial arena & placed on a dole or in concentration-camps with high-sounding patriotic names. That or socialism—take your choice.”

Source : https://emersongreenblog.wordpress.com/2021/10/18/h-p-lovecrafts-1931-radical-political-transformation/ Further on in this article he actually defends communists.

Finally I understand that he is a flawed human being. Brought up by the time period he was raised and holding beliefs that seem really stupid to those of the modern age. I can never put my own head into the mind of someone in the past as I only have the experience of my own time. History is something that happened and we can only observe it for what it was but my point still stands. There are people out there who will force Modern Beliefs on a man who died near a century ago.

He was brought up by people who were born even further back. All in all I will read his stories and separate his views from his art. Thank you for being nice and speaking to me. Would appreciate if you did it without hiding your blog.

bxjsjx sorry to be bothering you over hp lovecraft of all people but unfortunately he did actually suck so much that his contemporaries thought his attitudes were extremely prejudicial/discriminatory and that his aversion to unfamiliar things was excessive

I shall do a little more research and come back to you on that :)

[pastperfect-online]

September 2, 1945 - Japan surrenders, bringing an end to WWII

“Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan formally surrenders to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II.

By the summer of 1945, the defeat of Japan was a foregone conclusion. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed. The Allied naval blockade of Japan and intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy devastated. At the end of June, the Americans captured Okinawa, a Japanese island from which the Allies could launch an invasion of the main Japanese home islands. U.S. General Douglas MacArthur was put in charge of the invasion, which was code-named “Operation Olympic” and set for November 1945.

The invasion of Japan promised to be the bloodiest seaborne attack of all time, conceivably 10 times as costly as the Normandy invasion in terms of Allied casualties. On July 16, a new option became available when the United States secretly detonated the world’s first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert. Ten days later, the Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration, demanding the “unconditional surrender of all the Japanese armed forces.” Failure to comply would mean “the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitable the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland.” On July 28, Japanese Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki responded by telling the press that his government was “paying no attention” to the Allied ultimatum. U.S. President Harry Truman ordered the devastation to proceed, and on August 6, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing an estimated 80,000 people and fatally wounding thousands more.

After the Hiroshima attack, a faction of Japan’s supreme war council favored acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, but the majority resisted unconditional surrender. On August 8, Japan’s desperate situation took another turn for the worse when the USSR declared war against Japan. The next day, Soviet forces attacked in Manchuria, rapidly overwhelming Japanese positions there, and a second U.S. atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese coastal city of Nagasaki.

Just before midnight on August 9, Japanese Emperor Hirohito convened the supreme war council. After a long, emotional debate, he backed a proposal by Prime Minister Suzuki in which Japan would accept the Potsdam Declaration “with the understanding that said Declaration does not compromise any demand that prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as the sovereign ruler.” The council obeyed Hirohito’s acceptance of peace, and on August 10 the message was relayed to the United States.

Early on August 12, the United States answered that “the authority of the emperor and the Japanese government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers.” After two days of debate about what this statement implied, Emperor Hirohito brushed the nuances in the text aside and declared that peace was preferable to destruction. He ordered the Japanese government to prepare a text accepting surrender.

In the early hours of August 15, a military coup was attempted by a faction led by Major Kenji Hatanaka. The rebels seized control of the imperial palace and burned Prime Minister Suzuki’s residence, but shortly after dawn the coup was crushed. At noon that day, Emperor Hirohito went on national radio for the first time to announce the Japanese surrender. In his unfamiliar court language, he told his subjects, “we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable.” The United States immediately accepted Japan’s surrender.

President Truman appointed MacArthur to head the Allied occupation of Japan as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. For the site of Japan’s formal surrender, Truman chose the USS Missouri, a battleship that had seen considerable action in the Pacific and was named after Truman’s native state. MacArthur, instructed to preside over the surrender, held off the ceremony until September 2 in order to allow time for representatives of all the major Allied powers to arrive.

On Sunday, September 2, more than 250 Allied warships lay at anchor in Tokyo Bay. The flags of the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China fluttered above the deck of the Missouri. Just after 9 a.m. Tokyo time, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed on behalf of the Japanese government. General Yoshijiro Umezu then signed for the Japanese armed forces, and his aides wept as he made his signature.

Supreme Commander MacArthur next signed, declaring, “It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.” Ten more signatures were made, by the United States, China, Britain, the USSR, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, respectively. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz signed for the United States. As the 20-minute ceremony ended, the sun burst through low-hanging clouds. The most devastating war in human history was over."

-History.com

This week in History: August 30, 1983 - Guion S. Bluford becomes first African American in space August 31, 1897 - Thomas Edison invents Kinetograph September 1, 1807 - Aaron Burr acquitted of Treason September 2, 1969 - First ATM opens for business September 3, 1783 - Treaty of Paris signed September 4, 1951- President Truman makes first transcontinental television broadcast September 5, 1836 - Sam Houston elected as president of Texas

This photograph of  US General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito of Japan can be found in the online collection of the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives at the Handley Regional Library. 

[theauctionmap-blog]

Auction - Cape Girardeau, Missouri

LIVE & ONLINE AUCTION - CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO DATE: September 29th and 30th - LOCATION: 3351 Percy Dr., Cape Girardeau, MO - 4 Bedroom Brick Home Cape Girardeau MO - Furniture Collectibles Live & Online Simulcast Auction! Details, photos and Online bidding @ www.ollisauction.com All Brick 2-Story Home Built in 2004 Approx. 7,000 Sq. Ft. w/Walk-Out Basement Situated on 3 +/- Acres For More Pictures of the Real Estate Click Here  (4) Bedroom 4.5 Bath Study Room Family Room Living Room Dining Room Kitchen – Quality Wood Cabinets, Granite Counter /tops & Appliances Central Vacuum System Home Built in 2004 Primary floor covering is hardwood, Anderson Windows, & Doors, (1) Fireplace w/Wood Mantle w/Brick Face, Pocket and Solid Oak Interior Doors, Oak Trim and Staircase, Crown Molding, Wainscoting, Home has Control Station Fire and Burglar Alarms, Intercom System, Jet Bath, Walk-in Closets and Wood Columns, (2) Trane Natural Gas Furnace’s, Asphalt Shingled Roof, (2) Trane Central Air Conditioners, Well Water, Septic System The arched transom above the front door has a combination of beveled, crystal, and stained glass.  On both sides of the front door are small coat closets.  The foyer features both a beamed ceiling upon entering and an open ceiling that showcases the unique staircase and fireplace.  The mantel and columns looks to be from a turn of the 20th century.  Wainscoting runs throughout the foyer and continues up the staircase to the second floor sitting area. The second floor has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  Two of the bedrooms are connected through a full bathroom.  This bathroom features a water closet for privacy and two separate vanity areas with their own personal sinks.  The third bedroom has a view of the woods and its own full bathroom. The spacious master suite is located on the first floor.  The master suite’s full bath features a jet bath, shower stall, double corner vanity, and connects to the walk-in closet. The kitchen of the home has an island and unique built in touches, like beveled glass windows that look out to the patio and woods.  An open breakfast nook surrounded by bay windows The first floor also has a parlor, dining room, half bath, laundry room, pantry, and what is called the music room.  Simple yet elegant crown molding is in the foyer, parlor, master suite, and dining room. The walkout basement has ten-foot ceilings, a garage door, workshop, storage, full finished bathroom, and finished Victrola room. The outside features a meandering concrete brick lined path to the front door, a wooded lot, manicured lawn, raised concrete patio, and a meditation garden. The home was inspired by 2 Meeting Street in Charleston, South Carolina.  Mr. Crites was a general contractor and built most of the home himself.  The Crites put much thought and love into their home.  They combined old and new elegantly.  Come explore this elegant quality home. Auctioneer’s Note: Quality Home! Great Location and Neighborhood! 1 Owner Home! Terms and Conditions: $10,000 Down Day of Auction Balance Due and Possession at Closing on or Before Wed., Nov. 1, 2017.  Buyer required to enter into written contract day of auction. Ward Title Insurance Agency LLC 212 N. Main St. Cape Girardeau, MO  573-335-8084 will handle all title word and closing. Real Estate Sold “AS IS”, No Warranties Either Expressed or Implied. 2017 Real Estate Taxes will be provided up to time of closing. Have all financial arrangements and inspections made prior to auction.  A five (5) percent buyer’s premium will apply to the high bid to establish the contract price. OPEN HOUSES:  SEPTEMBER 10, 17, & 24 SUNDAY 1-3 PM For More Pictures of the Personal Property Click Here To Pre-bid On The Personal Property Click Here Fire Truck: 1943 Chevrolet Fire Truck VIN 211S082259 Has an undercoat of military green Collectibles: Monarch Stereoscope Viewer with 4 Slides * Anson Clock Co. New York 5 1/2 Mantle * RCA Victor Radio Framed Tapestry * Sterling & Silver Plate * Remington Scissors, Leather Scissor Case, Wiss Scissors', Princess Anne Pinking Shears, Keen Kutter Scissors, Wire Rimmed Glasses * Fabergé Style Egg by Alexandra * Fur & Faux Fur * H. S. Oil Lamps * Kodak Petite Antique Camera * Opera Glasses, Reading Glasses * Atomizers * International Sterling Spring Glory Flatware Set * Sterling Silver Flatware Set * Bausil Wildlife Etched Stainless Flatware Set * Brooches * Hats Pins * Jewelry Casket * Costume Jewelry * Jewelry * Dresden Mantle Clock D-1445 * Commode * Two Part Tussie * Cameos * Quilts * Ansonia Mantle Clock (la bretagne) * “Little Black Sambo” Book * Beaded Handbags * Coocoo Clock * Cast Iron Fireman Doorstop * Fire Fighter Equipment * Todd Century Seven Protectograph Model # 29 Kentucky Cash Register Co * Remington Typewriter * Framed Prints "Pheasants" & "Hare and French Partridges" by Helena Maguire * Blickensderfer Typewriter * Pencil Pointer Jupiter N. Favor Ruhl & Co. New York. Made only by Guhl & Harbeck Hamburg, Germany U.S.P. * (2) Tie Presses * Cast Iron Boston Terrier * Vogue Women's Boots 5 1/2 w/Button Hook * Silver Shoe Markings: 925 Peru * Copper Ware * Antonius Stradiuarius Cremoneusis Faciebay Anno 17 Made in Czecho-Slovakia with Case * Kiso Suzuki Violin Co., ltd copy of Antonius Stradivarus Anno 1974 1/4 No.7 with Case & Case * Lemaire Paris Opera Glasses * & MUCH MORE Furniture: Grandfather Clock * Frigidaire Refrigerator Model # LFHT1817LBA, Serial # BA42521571* Cherry Cabinet * Victorian Velvet Chairs * Oak Plant Stand * Sewing Cabinet * Marble Top End Table * Melodeon (Needs Work) * Victorian Music Chair * Copper Lined Humidor * Beveled Glass Lighted Display Cabinet * Marble Top Cabinet * East Lake Marble Top Buffet * Sidebar * Brass Legged Occasional Table * Marble Top Buffet * Dining Table w/ 7 Chairs * Marble Floor Lamp * Victorian Sofa on Wheels * Secretary Desk, w/ Book Shelf * Victorian Wingback Chairs * Wall Mirror * Wood Inlaid Occasional Table * Victorian Sofas * 2 Upholstered Foot Stools * Marble Top Occasional Table * Dressing Mirror * Marble Top Dresser * 2 Marble Top Night Stands * Victorian Full Bed * Claw Foot Bench * Marble Top Wash Stand * Samsung Flat Screen * Kidney Shaped Secretary Desk * East Lake Rocker * Hall Tree * Library Table * Bedroom Suites * Mirrored Wall Shelves * Club Chair * Armoire * Bellows Coffee Table * & MUCH MORE Light Fixtures: Crystal Chandeliers * Cast Iron Light Fixture with Crystal Drops * Gas Lights Converted to Electric & MORE Collectible Glassware: Bavaria * J.S.V. Germany * Leuchtenburg, Germany * Nippon * Austria * J.P.L. France * T & V France * R. S. Prussia Red Star * Belleek Co. Fermanagh, Ireland * Germany * Fenton * Depression Glass * Carnival Glass * Rexxford Full Lead Crystal Entirely Hand Cut Bavaria * Cut-Glass * Dresden Saxony * WMF Cristal Cabinet Pedestal * Murano * Moriaga Urn * R. S. Prussia * Limoges * Lefton * Florentine * Meakin * Mikasa * Majolica * Prussia * Noritake * Opalescent * Royal Dux Austria * Royal Dux Bohemia * Royal Nippon * Cranberry Glass * Hand Painted * Capodimonte * Bohemia Czechoslovakia * Etched Glass * House of Goebel Bavaria W. Germany * & MUCH MUCH MORE Phonographs & Music Players: Edison GEM Phonograph * Les Phonographs de François Desire Odebez * The Euphonia #53 Patent Launching Pat. No. 700.550" * Victor made by the Victor Talking Machine Co. Model # Vic V 25517 & Wooden Stand * Edison Fireside Phonographs * Concert Roller Organs * Edison Fireside Phonograph Combination Types * Phonograph Tube Cabinet * "Regina" "First Music Box Manufactured in the United States" * Edison Home Phonograph Combination Types * Edison Standard Phonographs * Columbia Piano Case Phonograph with Florentine Scrolled Legs w/ Tool Kit * Pianolodium * White and Sentance Granthan Polyphon H. Peters & Co. London, Made in Leipzig, W/ Cabinet * Regina Double Comb Music Box Model 50, Square Corner Cased Mahogany, W/ Accessory Table * Victrola Style # VVXI Ser. # 125381 * Pathe Freres Phonograph Co. Model # VII Ser. # 12166 * Jukebox * Phonograph Records * Phonograph Horns * Edison Amberolas * Silvertone Phonograph in Cabinet * Hand Painted Phonograph Horns * Edison Disc Phonograph H 19 S M -- 24057 in Cabinet * Thomas Home Phonograph Ser. # 242040 w/Tape Deck * Record Player appears to be built in a library desk * Edison Phonographs * Edison Disc Phonographs * Edison Phonograph Ser. # 58058 & Tube Record Cabinet * Silvertone Record Player Initials on Back IGC * Gem Roller Organ, Stamped Sept. 16, 1902 * Health Merry-Go-Round Roller Organ * Improved Celestina No. 20884 * Victrola VV 90 20341 T.E. Clark Music Co. Cape Girardeau, MO in Record Cabinet * Improved Mandolina #23744 * Sonora Record Player in Cabinet * Symphonia Wilcox & White Oregon Co. Meriden, Conn. No. 435 * Exhibition Victor Talking Mach. Co. Camden, N. J. Lundstrom Converto Talking Machine Cabinet Style No. 1 "Oak" Adapted for Victrola No. IV Cabinet Numbered 03035 * Columbia Graphophone * Edison Gold Moulded Records * Regal Record Player * Victor Portable Players * Vicente Llinares Faventia Barcelona * Odley Record Cabinet * Victrola VV-IX 435761 & Cabinet Name Plate: Sold by The H. Ackerman Piano Co. Marion, Ohio * "His Master's Voice" The Gramophone Co. LTD. Hayes, Middllesex. Record Player in Cabinet * Harmony Talking Machine Made by Great Northern Mfg. Co. Chicago & Record Cabinet * & MORE Personal Property Terms: Cash, Check, or Credit Card day of auction.  Positive ID required for bidder number.  10% Buyer’s Premium. Pick Up for the items Purchased will be from: September 29 Friday Noon to 4:00 pm September 30 Saturday Noon to 6:00 pm October 1 Sunday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm YOU are Responsible for bringing 2 Copies your of PAID in Full Receipt.  (1 to sign and 1 for your records) Click to Post

[vrheadsets]

Meet The Invisible Hours Characters Ahead of the October Launch

Earlier this week saw Tequila Works confirm a price and release date for its upcoming murder-mystery experience The Invisible Hours. As with any good whodunnit, uncovering the interwoven stories of each of the characters becomes highly important so the studio has released full character bios to help players get under the skin of each one.

Inspired by classic murder mysteries, like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None as well as Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, the experience takes ideas from immersive theater mixing it with the real-life rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla and some fictional spin.

So who’s involved and what could their motives be? Checkout the full bios to start sleuthing, ready for when The Invisible Hours launches on 10th October for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. As further details are released VRFocus will keep you updated.

FULL CHARACTER BIOS NIKOLA TESLA – The Victim “The scientist’s dream is to know the result before the experiment.”  World famous inventor, futurist and arch rival of Thomas Edison. Until a few months ago, Tesla was a flamboyant socialite – regularly seen charming potential investors at the finest restaurants in the city. And then suddenly, he cut ties with everyone. He stopped taking visitors, and fired his long-time assistant, Flora White. He became a recluse overnight, never leaving the workshop in his mansion, and no one knows why. Soon after, Tesla advertised for a new assistant – with one strange condition: they must be blind. Oliver Swan was the only applicant. Tesla hired him immediately. Whatever Tesla was working on, he didn’t want to risk letting anyone see it.

GUSTAF GUSTAV – The Detective “A real detective doesn’t make mistakes.”  Once known as the inspiration for the mystery novel “The Detective So Good They Named Him Twice”, these days this renowned Swedish Investigator is unemployed, bankrupt and alcoholic. He retired from police work in disgrace after an infamous killer convinced Gustaf of his innocence – whereupon Gustaf released him from custody. The killer went on to murder nine more people before he was finally recaptured. Gustaf is haunted by his mistake, and has vowed never to make it again. No matter what.

FLORA WHITE – Tesla’s Ex-Assistant “How did the murderer know Tesla’s gun was empty?” Flora has never been more alone: her husband only recently died at war, and when Tesla suddenly removed himself from public life, he immediately fired his assistant – Flora – much to her confusion. As a result, she has fallen on hard times, and has returned to Tesla’s island to beg for her job back. She doesn’t belong in this nest of snakes, but she is desperate.

THOMAS EDISON – Rival Inventor “I am the father of modern age.” Self-proclaimed genius Thomas Edison is already known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park” thanks to his latest creation: the Phonograph. But what his adoring public don’t know is that Edison stole the idea. Desperate to hide his crime, he travelled to the island when Tesla implied he was aware of Edison’s wrongdoings. Could Edison have murdered Tesla to hide the truth?

AUGUSTUS VANDERBERG – Wealthy Layabout “Never has a man been worth so much, and achieved so little”  Son and heir to the richest family in England, the Vanderbergs, Augustus has never had to work a day in his life. He loves women, booze, and any pleasure he can get his hands on. And yet, he is quietly tortured by his need to impress his stoic father, Marcus Vanderberg – a legendary British engineer and railroad magnate. Augustus once had an older brother who drowned when they were children. His father still mourns “the better son”. Perhaps Augustus’ interest in Tesla is part of an effort to finally impress his father?

OLIVER SWAN – The Blind Butler “Everything in this house is a matter of discretion.” Once a slave in Zanzibar, Swan escaped to the United States where he finds himself as an ‘indentured servant’ – perhaps not much of a change after all; made especially painful since he abandoned his young son to get there. Swan was born blind, making him the strange but ideal candidate to become Tesla’s new assistant. After all, what Tesla wanted most was to “keep his secrets safe from prying eyes”. Did Swan learn something about Tesla that could have motivated him to commit murder?

VICTOR MUNDY – Ex-Convict & Murderer  “People lie because they’re afraid. And I ain’t afraid of nothin'” Mundy is a murderer. Twenty six years ago, he killed his wife in cold blood when he found her sleeping with another man. He was convicted thanks to the testimony of his own young daughter Mary. In all the years he spent incarcerated, he became obsessed with taking revenge against his daughter. Mundy is a man of strange contrast: a vicious killer, yet also a God-fearing art lover. Killing is easy to a man like him. But why would he murder Tesla?

SARAH BERNHARDT –Actress & Celebrity –  “If you don’t have secrets, you’re terribly dull.” World-famous stage actress and member of the Comédie-Française in Paris. Bernhardt is one of the biggest celebrities of the age. She made her fame on the stages of France in the early 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas. She has developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname “The Divine Sarah”, and was the first woman in history to play Hamlet on film. For years, she has been dogged by rumours that she is secretly a high class courtesan, but she doesn’t care. Being mixed up in a murder investigation is quite a thrill to her – could she have killed Tesla just to make life a little less boring?

from VRFocus http://ift.tt/2eMY3VA

[esthermeronobaro]

The Dying Art of Light

This article was first published in the January 2014 issue of SLUG Magazine. Read it online or in print on page 33.

Over 100 years after Cinématographe was invented and used by the Lumiére brothers in France to show the first paying audience a projected film, Edward Norton looks directly into the camera as he explains the job of a projectionist in a scene from Fight Club. “Why would anyone want this shit job?” he asks as his alter-ego Tyler Durden splices pornography into family cartoons. “Because it affords them other interesting opportunities.”  

Walking up the steps to the projection booths of the Salt Lake Film Society’s Broadway Theatre, I imagine what it would’ve been like, watching that scene from Fight Club when it showed in theaters in 1999, from a projection booth—like looking at a reflection, perhaps. 

Lance Walker, SLFS Head Projectionist, has been working in the booth since 2001, just before the Salt Lake Film Society came into fruition to save the Tower Theatre from demise. “There really wasn’t anyone else who could come here and do it, so they trained me and the other guy who was working the concession stand at the time … They showed me really fast how to do it, and everything else I’ve had to learn on my own,” he says. Walker speaks slowly and affirmatively—he reminds me of a more subdued version of Wallace Shawn’s character in The Princess Bride—a little bored, a little cynical, and his rare smile reveals an endearing gap in his teeth behind a full beard.  

Lance Walker, Head Projectionist for the Salt Lake Film Society, has survived the digital conversion, though his job has considerably changed. Photo: Russel Daniels

We walk through the hallway to the projection booths and Walker apologizes for the smell, but the overwhelming aroma of popcorn that fills the lobby below doesn’t seem to penetrate the dark upstairs. Instead, the winding hallways contain a light scent of dust among the organized clutter of boxes, tables and machines—very few people come up here, which is part of the magic. 

“I like the projection booth because it’s like a dark hole that no one really wants to go into,” says Walker. “It’s loud and dark and it’s not a place for people to go.”

Tyler Durden defines the employment opportunities of a projectionist as creative mischief, but speaking with Walker—and having worked in the movie theater business myself for nearly a decade—I realize that, though most projectionists aren’t using their position to terrorize children, there’s a certain character trait needed to draw someone to the booth: those who find solace in solitude. Walker tells me he’s not much of a film fanatic, citing The Shining as a favorite, and admitting he prefers B movies he can watch and be done with in the comfort of his own home. “ … I can pause [the movie], get food or drink, go to the bathroom and never miss any of it. I can have the lights on or off. I don’t have to come into work or any of the other movie theaters, now very demanding of you knowing exactly where you want to sit. I’m not into that,” he says. “I guess I might be a control freak.”  

A few days later, Scott Farley of Brewvies Cinema Pub, and I sit in a booth at Juniors discussing his own film interests: “I think I have a fairly deep knowledge of film for a pedestrian, but not for a film buff,” he says. “I would say that I am an autodidact and there were times when it was necessary for me to know film … I sort of tried to surround myself with people who were real cinema heads and try to get them to educate me, but … I am pretty absent from my own personality, and what people tell me to think, I’m pretty easily convinced of … ”

Scott Farley of Brewvies Cinema Pub boasts over three decades of experience in the projection booth. Photo: Russel Daniels

Having spent a few years’ worth of Friday nights with Farley closing up Brewvies when I worked there, I can personally attest to his above-average knowledge and understanding of film, having benefitted from a number of his recommendations—and anyone can call the Brewvies Movieline at 801-355-5500 to hear his forcibly optimistic and concise reviews for the current lineup. 

Farley’s history in the booth starts in Logan, when he was attending Utah State University in 1985. 

“You try to have jobs, and since you can’t make a lot of money because there isn’t a lot of money to be made unless you’re having a miserable life, you come up with jobs where your perks also fill your social needs,” he says, explaining what led him to start working at a movie theater. 

“Dates were free, and I could hook up friends on any number of levels, so I had entrées of social significance greater than just my charming personality.” 

Farley eventually ended up at the Tower Theatre, working under Greg Tanner before the SLFS took over, making his way to Brewvies in 1997. “I kind of left being a projectionist when I came to Brewvies,” he says, admitting that the years he’s been at the cinema pub have been more fruitful as a bartender. Though it’s true that the job is now predominantly accomplished by the bussers, they’re trained at a very surface level, making Farley’s nearly three decades of projection experience crucial when it comes to troubleshooting impending film disasters—soon to be antiquated memories.

In his 2011 documentary series, The Story of Film: An Odyssey—consequently another Farley recommendation—Irish film critic Mark Cousins describes film as “the art of light.” He says, “[Thomas] Edison and the many other manic, ideas-y inventors of cinema realized that beyond the equipment and machines, what you needed most for movies was light”—essentially making the role of the projectionist somewhat of a poetic intermediary between the art and the audience. 

According to the first episode of the series, and confirmed by Walker’s extensive knowledge of traditional movie projectors, the actual machine is an amalgamation of varying components from other inventions, including the sewing machine and the vacuum, slowly tweaked by new innovations, but not as quickly evolving as one would expect compared to the technological advances surrounding it. Perhaps this is why, a year after Tyler Durden explains the basics of projector mechanics, the first digital projectors are installed and tested in a few movie theaters across the country.  

SLFS's Lance Walker enjoys the more carefree, digital format of projecting films. Photo: Russel Daniels

Nearly 14 years later, the labs producing celluloid film are shutting down and movie studios big and small have finally caught up with the digital, economical and eco-friendly age, sending notices to theaters, independent and commercial, that they’ll no longer be producing 35mm prints. Instead of heavy, metal canisters of film, briefcases are arriving on theater doorsteps full of hard drives about the size of a paperback—compressed movie files. Large chain theaters, like the Megaplex at the Gateway, completed their conversion to digital a couple of years ago, but a quick search on Google reveals that independent theaters across the country are struggling to purchase the expensive new projectors in time to meet the studio deadlines—a story of its own. Salt Lake’s independent theaters have survived the changing of the guard, and at the Broadway, aside from two running 35mm projectors, the outdated machines have been pushed into even darker corners to make room for whirring blocks—looking a bit like oversized window units—topped with glowing touch screens. In one day, Walker laments, a century’s worth of invention and innovation was replaced. 

“Film” is a vestigial word now. 

The job of the projectionist, though, is still very much alive, however changed. “I was led to believe that the digitals would take care of themselves, which they haven’t done yet, so I still have a job,” says Walker. “They never implied that I would be fired, but that I would have less to do. It’s all the same amount of work—it’s just different work.” Walker is now part DJ, part IT tech. His day begins by uploading or “ingesting” the movie into the digital projector, inserting special keys sent via email to decode the encrypted information, and then, essentially making a playlist that includes a schedule of showings, trailers, credits, etc. “When it was all 35mm, you would come in and turn on the power, thread up the movies, and you were ready to go,” says Walker. “Now, you have to make sure the machines are actually networked, and sometimes you have to restart them several times to make sure that they’re connecting. So it just takes a lot more time to get the day started, but other than that, you just put in the schedule and it goes. Then someone complains about it—the cleaning lights have been left on—and you’re like, ‘That’s not my deal—the machine left the cleaning lights on.’ When automation is going, it just makes people think it’s taken care of—‘I don’t have to worry about it.’ Digital is a fickle thing.” 

At Brewvies, the two back-to-back 35mm projectors have not been converted as of writing this article, though they’ll be switched out soon, but Farley sees the change as a positive one. “The idea of not having to use resources which are largely slandered, and ship items across the country that burn carbon—it’s going to be a great efficiency and a great good in a deep ecological sense to not have film,” he says. “The projection will always be significantly improved, because it’s really easy to flub a film and ruin it, and digital looks good now.” Walker agrees, saying, “I really think that whoever did the digitals went around and figured out all of the awful things that happen, and they did a really good job in putting their thing together.” 

Brewvies' Scott Farley acknowledges that going digital will make film projection a bit more environmentally friendly. Photo: Russel Daniels

There’s no romanticizing 35mm film when you’re the one spending a whole night in the booth, putting together two miles of film after dropping a print—which Farley admits to having suffered on a couple of occasions in his early days as a projectionist. “That will never happen anymore—I will never have to look at a projector and think, ‘How do I fix this?” he says, pausing with what I read as a hint of poignance.  

For myself, threading the film through the projector was a meditative respite from the rush of working as a barback. It was detail-oriented, mechanical work that satiated a compulsive urge. It was a small piece of art that I mitigated to an audience through a machine whose parts contain the genealogy of industrious and romantic ideas. The digital conversion has changed the mechanics of cinema, evolved the projectionist from a torchbearer waiting in the shadows to a button pusher glowing in the dark, but no one’s really crying about it. “It is, after all, just an aesthetic end you’re searching for,” says Farley. “There’s no quantity of truth you’re trying to get out of it because it’s a lie anyway—you’re just trying to get a really great lie.”

[magicalincorrectrobodokiquotes]

"And a Grumpy New Year" Clip

“Damnit.” Theodore groaned. “At this rate, I’ll be exiled to the bathroom.”

Pearl poked her head out of the bathroom.

“You DO know Frances has a bunk bed and a terrible sleep schedule, right?” Edgar asked. “Go claim the top bunk.”

“Okay.” Theodore shrugged, entering their room.

“Hmmm?” Frances asked.

“I’m having a territory battle more hectic than the ones we have in Risk.”

“Talk it out?”

“Not until 9.”

“Oh, okay. Come on in, then.” Frances offered the top bunk. “Lab Rat can give ya company. As well as Mousey.”

“He’s YOUR stuffed animal.”

Mousey squeaked happily. “I’ll do it, then.”

Beat.

“DON'T. TELL. WHEELER.”

(pic coming soon)