optical

"Illusion is the first of all pleasures." -Oscar Wilde It's tough to tell fact from fiction, and sometimes just as hard to tell reality from illusion. As long as you're enjoying yourself this weekend, I'd have to agree with Buckwheat Zydeco, and say Let The Good Times Roll. But despite what these images you're looking at might seem to show, there's nothing rolling at all here. Image credit: Illustrator Fiestoforo. Nor is anything moving, nor is there a hint of animation in any of these. Yet, based on what your eyes show you, things appear to be bulging, spinning, or more generally, there…
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow! What a Ride!'” -Hunter S. Thompson For those of you who've never experienced exactly what it feels like to alter your perceptions, and for those of you who have but don't want to spend hours and hours experiencing the effects, your options have traditionally been limited. Perhaps a song might provide a window into the experience for you, such as M. Ward's…
When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about.-Albert Einstein I woke up this morning with the Sun in my face, which marks the first time all year that that's happened. (The irony, that I'm now listening to the Grateful Dead's "Looks Like Rain.") And after a few seconds had passed (you know, it takes me a few seconds to realize that I'm not still in my dream, trying to navigate through some bizarre hotel corridor), I realized I couldn't read the numbers on my old LED alarm clock.…