Odd Musical Instrument: Beer Bottle Organ

Here's a nifty idea for re-using all those empty bottles after the Fourth of July barbeque. If you have a lot of time and technical expertise, that is. It was made by Peterson Electo-Musical Products. This beer bottle organ includes 72 beer bottles and was sponsored by Guiness. The bottles contain varying amounts of glycerine, and air blowing over the tops makes the sound. Pretty interesting. Check out this news clip about the beer bottle organ:

Delphic Oracle's Secret Discovered by Geologists

The Priestess of Delphi, by John Collier

Nay, when a mule becometh king of Medes, flee, soft-soled Lydian, by pebbly Hermus, and stay not, nor feel shame to be a coward. After crossing the Halys, Croesus will destroy a great empire.

After recieving this prophesy, Croesis attacked Persia and lost, thereby destroying his own great empire.

According Pythagoras the Delphic Oracle derived her abilities from gasses that were trapped inside the temple which rose up from the ground. Until recently this was considered a myth, but geologists revisiting the theory have found evidence that the Pythagoras story was true. Ethylene gasses were found to be emanating from a spring in the area of the temple. Ethylene gasses have a narcotic and hallucinogenic effect and the temple of Delphi was built over a spring. Apparently a lack of tectonic plate activity caused the gasses to dissipate over time and the oracle's popularity fell off.

The Road to Delphi: Scenes from the History of Oraclesis a beautiful exporatioin of prophesy through history.

Poem for Summer Night: In A Dark Time

by Theodore Roethke

In a dark time, the eye begins to see,
I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;
I hear my echo in the echoing wood--
A lord of nature weeping to a tree.
I live between the heron and the wren,
Beasts of the hill and serpents of the den.

What's madness but nobility of soul
At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire!
I know the purity of pure despair,
My shadow pinned against a sweating wall.
That place among the rocks--is it a cave,
Or winding path? The edge is what I have.

A steady storm of correspondences!
A night flowing with birds, a ragged moon,
And in broad day the midnight come again!
A man goes far to find out what he is--
Death of the self in a long, tearless night,
All natural shapes blazing unnatural light.

Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.
My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly,
Keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?
A fallen man, I climb out of my fear.
The mind enters itself, and God the mind,
And one is One, free in the tearing wind.

Celebrating Summer Solstice in West Texas

photo by Mara ~earth light~

Summer solstice is the longest day and the shortest night of the year and it's the first official day of summer.  It's also a very active night for strange activity, and there was no shortage of strange activity last night at the Black Mansion. The chupacabras were restless after so long in the caves where they avoid the sunlight, emerging at dusk to feed on unguarded goats. Of course, in the alternate universe area known as Sugarland Not-Texas the Marfa lights play in the daytime, as tiny black holes. It makes them un-reliable come nightfall in West Texas, though, which made the jackalopes all the more jumpy and aggressive. Strange bonfires could be seen on the hillsides and a hideous cackling rang out in the night. One can only guess the source of that treacherous sound. So, we're resting here today, basking in the shade of the mesquite trees and hoping the kissing bugs don't bite. 

Contortionists and Potato Salad- A Strange Act Out of West Texas

Via Durango Texas.

The Ross sisters were actually natives of West Texas. They performed, as you see, contortionist routines with light hearted ditties, reaching the peak of their popularity in the 1940s. Pretty amazing stuff. Here's their Wikipedia entry.

The Heaventree of Stars

hung with humid nightblue fruit.

Hubble and Joyce.
Ulysses

The Jackalope: An Examination of the Species

We found a lovely little explanation of some of the odd behaviors of the elusive Jackalope today at the Museum of Hoaxes. They seem to know a bit about the animal's behavior. An excerpt:

The jackalope is an aggressive species, willing to use its antlers to fight. Thus, it is also sometimes called the "warrior rabbit."

Jackalopes possess an uncanny ability to mimic human sounds. In the old West, when cowboys would gather by their campfires to sing at night, jackalopes would frequently be heard singing back, mimicking the voices of the cowboys. Jackalopes become especially vocal before thunderstorms, perhaps because they mate only when lightning flashes (or so it is theorized).

When chased, the jackalope will use its vocal abilities to elude capture. For instance, when chased by people it will call out phrases such as, "There he goes, over there," in order to throw pursuers off its track. The best way to catch a jackalope is to lure it with whiskey, as they have a particular fondness for this drink. Once intoxicated, the animal becomes slower and easier to hunt.

If you're thinking of a run to West Texas you might want to give the whole thing a read, just so you'll know what to do if you encounter one of these horrid critters.