Stuff I Do When I’m Bored
Hugo Gernsback’s Contribution To The World: The 1925 Isolator
"The greatest difficulty that the human mind has to contend with is lack of concentration, mainly due to outside influences. If, by one stroke, we can do away with these influences, we will not only be benefitted greatly thereby, but our work would be accomplished more quickly and the results would be vastly better. [...] It will be noted that the glass windows directly in front of the eyes are black. The construction involved the use of ordinary window glass, the outer glass being painted entirely black. Two small white lines were scratched into the paint, as shown. The idea of this is as follows: The writer thought that shutting out the noises was not sufficient. The eye would still wander around, thereby distracting attention. By having the two white lines scratched on the glass, the field through which the eye can move is comparatively small."
Prescient satirical concept… or perhaps he was serious:
According to [Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, 2015] Gernsback himself may have been “an undiagnosed Aspergian”: “His peers regarded him as an unsociable figure who remained coolly distant from the communities he created. The people he counted as friends tended to be prominent scientists, influential politicians, and other notable figures with whom he corresponded by mail; historian James Gunn observed in Alternate Worlds that he was ‘a strange mixture of personal reserve and aggressive salesmanship’.
Silberman refers to the Isolator in particular as Gernsback’s “most blatantly autistic creation”.
Read the full description of The Isolator from the July 1925 edition of Science and Invention.
The Hugo Awards were named after Hugo Gernsback, who is regarded as “The Father of Science Fiction”.
[Found here.]
Picnic Bear has seen some shit.
[Found here, h/t Pam M.]
Memorial Day
Remember always.
Castophrenic Hot Links
I Go Into Orbit, Johnny Acey (1962)John Acey Goodelock (1925-2009) was an east coast R&B singer / pianist who began recording in 1953, and also recorded as Johnny Chef, Acey, J. Acey, and Johnny Acey And His Fingerpoppers. I was unable to find the lineup for this recording; the 45rpm credits Texas songwriter LaCharles Harper and it may have been the inspiration for Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Pride and Joy.
Shiny mixer [via].
The Fried Universe.
[h/t Mme. Jujujive]
The Largest .GIF Animation in the World.
Reddit’s Best Photoshops of 2021 includes links to originals.
Researchers at UC Berkley dropped salamanders into a vertical wind tunnel to see what would happen. [via]
[Top image: Dashboard of a 1958 Dodge D100 found here.]
From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.
Saturday Matinee – Pursuit of Ghosts, INSA & Pink Floyd
Pursuit of Ghosts is a representation of the daily grind. We assign meaning to our existence , what matters to me might not matter to you.
Mesmerizing animation by Kevin McGloughlin uses footage by photography pioneer Eadward Muybridge with music by Max Cooper and Tim Hodge.
Daredevil Global .Gif promo (2016) features INSA and his “Gif-iti.” He creates some amazing stuff, including the Rockin’ Rolls posted here.
From the Utoobage:
“Pink Floyd performing at the ancient Roman amphitheatre in Pompeii , Italy. The main footage in and around the amphitheatre was filmed over four days in October 1971, using the band’s regular touring equipment, including studio-quality 24-track tape recorders.”
Kinda spacy trippy stuff for this 3-day weekend, and if you’re headed out, be sure to drive fast. The less time on the road reduces the odds of an accident. See you back here tomorrow.
The .Gif Friday Post No. 731 – Bollard Fake, Go Away Balloon & A Fan Dance
Every. Freakin. Day.
[Found here.]
My Marimo Toshi
Bunkarina sent me a present last year – a Japanese moss ball. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but I knew it needed a better home than a glass pentagon cage, so I put it in something a bit more respectful and named it Tosh.
I didn’t think much about Tosh until he “birthed” a baby and they became Toshi and Toshita. We became friends, and every two weeks they get fresh water to keep them happy.
More recently I learned that they’re sold as Japanese Lake Moss (or Marimo Moss Balls) but they’re not moss at all. They’re algae, Aegagropila linnaei, and they grow very slowly. They don’t like chlorinated water much, but they like a little salt. They turn bright green and blow bubbles when they’re content. The water changes coincide with something I’ve been going through for two years now, and I began taking photos every two weeks to mark time and progress. The moss give me a bit of inner peace, a zen tranquility of sorts.
And no, I don’t talk to them, smartass. You know who you are.
Children see things differently.
[Found here.]
Tacky Raccoons 