Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Here's video from our first time at the legendary House on the Rock - a destination far stranger than I'd expected, like a day-long visit to the inner psyche of an extremely-creative-but-not-quite-sane individual. It's huge, dark, colorful, and packed to the gills (often three and four stories high) with STUFF. If this collection of collections ever had to be moved, the effort would be Herculean.
This minute of footage is the view as you enter the Carousel Room, the threshold between Tour 2 and Tour 3 at the The House on the Rock ... actually, we didn't get to Tour 3. Three-and-a-half-hours of endless ephemera was just too much for one visit, so we bailed and took the "this way to the egress" door towards sunshine, fresh air, and a semblance of sanity.
Have you ever seen the anime feature, Paprika? One of the recurring dream images virtual-reality psychotherapist Paprika faces is a juggernaut-like "Parade of Everything Under the Sun" - I have a feeling that director Satoshi Kon and writer Yasutaka Tsutsui may have been at least a little inspired by the House on the Rock for that particular part of the film.
One caveat if you plan visiting the House on the Rock...it's a bit close and pungent in many of the rooms. There's a cloying hazelnut-ty deodorizer pumped into the warren-like rooms, to ward off the stench of decay, no doubt - I'd almost rather smell mold than that saccharine crypt perfume. It's a bit offputting (note to HotR management: ventilate, ventilate, ventilate) but no need to tie an orange peel under your nose, a la the age of the Black Death. However, I would avoid any mind-altering substances while on the tour unless you want to pay a short stay at the nearest asyl..er...psychiatric facility.
Trust me on this one. One forty-something guy we kept running into apparently had a few beers at the pizza shop on Tour 2, and could have used a little straitjacket therapy.
More House on the Rock trip photos at my place on Flickr.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Imagine you've just come home from an all-you-can eat Chinese buffet with a rowdy bunch of friends. Okay; so you overindulged a bit on the General Tso's Chicken and the Dragon and Phoenix Plate. No biggie.
Then the real fun began: not only did you have a few too many Shaoxing-and-Tsingtao boilermakers, you decided to get adventurous. You had to sample the fried pork intestines, the shark's fin soup, and the jellyfish salad, didn't you? Even the octopus balls and sea cucumber started to look appetizing. Little did you know that your friend's buddy visiting from the West coast spiked those Mai Tais with something...a little extra.
You come home with raging heartburn and an aching head. The room spins, and you plunk down on the couch in front of an old Hammer Horror flick.
This is what you dream.
Actually, it's audio and video of the two-story (or is it three?) Mikado, one of the "music machines"* at the House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The structure is based on a Dutch Mortier dance organ mechanism, packed with gilded gargoyles, a full battery of robotic/animatronic instruments and leering mannequins lit up by a riot of red and gold lanterns. With a flash, it looks like this:
More House on the Rock photos at my place on Flickr.
[*Some call them "music machines." I call them "Calliopes from Hell."]
Labels: history, music, video, WI
Monday, June 23, 2008
I narrowly ducked into the foyer before hail the size of chickpeas (some larger) started battering down on the street Sunday afternoon. About halfway through the video, note the unfortunate, umbrella-less pedestrian running down the street.
Labels: chicago, news, science, video
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
SECOND UPDATE: It wasn't a foot, it was a "skeletonized animal paw."UPDATE: A SIXTH severed foot was found yesterday near Vancouver Island, CNN reports:
The Vancouver Sun newspaper said the first four feet found in the area were all right feet, making the foot found Monday the only left foot. Experts told The Sun there could be explanations that did not suggest foul play. Ian Buckingham, a retired coroner, told the newspaper the ankle joint can come apart easily if a body is decomposing at sea. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an expert on ocean currents, told The Sun a foot wearing a buoyant athletic shoe could float as far as 1,000 miles.Yes, six severed feet popping up with increasing frequency over the past year along Canadian island shores sounds like a "natural occurrence" to me - but then, anything is possible, right? Right.
A strange headline once again has appeared in the news: a severed foot, clad in a sock and running shoe, has washed ashore near a small island in Canada. One severed foot washing up on shore is a bit macabre, but not unheard of. Two severed feet? Somewhat more strange, especially considering they were almost identically shod, and both were right feet.
When the third foot and the fourth foot were found earlier this spring, investigators speculated they may have come from a February 2005 small plane crash near Quadra Island, British Columbia, that claimed the lives of all four aboard.
Now, a fifth severed foot has been found, and investigators know something very strange is afoot, but are not yet definitively stating foul play is involved, pending DNA test results. However, that fact that feet are washing ashore on different islands would make me a bit suspicious something other than piranhas or possessed boat propellers are to blame.
Who are the five people missing their right feet? I hate to say it, but something about this mystery stinks.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
What's worse than buying over a hundred lottery tickets?
[Seen in the muck between parked cars on my street...]
Czech gothic rock band XIII. Století has returned to the stage after a four-year hiatus; YouTuber schma88 captured all seven-and-a-half minutes of their opus "Elizabeth" on video.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Do they serve bran muffins instead of communion wafers? Is the priest Fabio?
Labels: chicago, humor, photo, religion
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Fron CNN: classy, very classy.
The House on the Rock: World's Largest Carousel
