Fascinating, Beautiful And Horrifying All At Once

“A fireball begins to rise, and the world’s first atomic mushroom cloud begins to form, nine seconds after Trinity detonated on July 16, 1945. (U.S. Department of Defense)”

"Complete destruction of House No. 1, located 3,500 feet from ground zero, by an atomic blast on March 17, 1953, at Yucca Flat at the Nevada Proving Ground. The time from the first to last picture was 2.3 seconds. The camera was completely enclosed in a 2-inch lead sheath as a protection against radiation. The only source of light was that from the bomb. In frame 1, the house is lit by the blast. By frame 2 the radiating energy has set it on fire, and the remaining frames show the rapid disintegration of the house by the blast wave.(U.S. Department of Defense)"

"In Operation Doorstep, conducted during the larger Operation Upshot-Knothole nuclear bomb test, mannequins are seated at a table in the dining room of house number two, attending a "dinner party" thrown by Civil Defense officials who are testing the effects of an atomic explosion on houses and occupants on March 15, 1953. (AP Photo/Dick Strobel)"

"(2 of 2) After the blast, mannequins lie strewn about the room, their "dinner party" interrupted violently by an atomic blast on March 17, 1953. (U.S. Department of Defense)"

"Los Alamos director J. Robert Oppenheimer is seen in silhouette as he oversees final assembly of The Gadget at the Trinity test site in July of 1945. (U.S. Department of Defense)"

"Operation Greenhouse took place in the spring of 1951, consisting of four explosions at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Pacific Ocean. This photo is from the third test, George, on May 9, 1951, the first thermonuclear bomb test, yielding 225 kilotons.(U.S. Department of Defense)"

My Thoughts:

I think that the scale of these events is hard to understand in our post-atomic age. We live in a world where nuclear events seem ordinary. Think about this: These explosions represented the first of their kind, outside of a star, in our solar-system's history, and we made them happen. That is spectacularly audacious. The sad/horrifying part is that we did it, not for the sake of science or understanding, but as a way to kill each other. We replicated a stellar event to kill people.

Fantastic Photo Essay at The Atlantic Monthly

Word

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness. --Reinhold Niebuhr

Most Frightening Movie I've Ever Seen

Taken from the movie "The Swiss Machine" which I saw at the traveling Banf Mountain Film Festival this year. Absolutely terrifying.

In 1938 it took the best climbers in the world 3 days to climb the Eiger. Ueli climbs it in 2 hours 47 minutes and 33 seconds alone and without protection.

I'd be angry at him for taking stupid risks if it weren't so beautiful watching him run up the side of a mountain .

Watch the clip.

Hip-Hop Cellist

I love living in a world where stuff like this happens

Brilliant Message From A Brilliant Guy

Not for Tomatoes, Man.

I love how the simple addition of the word "man" can add a subversive subtext to this whole thing.

Heh Heh Heh

So I found this book on our processing cart at work today. It's not usually my kind of thing, as I have no interest in French literature, but I do love philosophy so I turned the book over to read the reviews and summary on the back.

This is the first review:

"Landy's book delivers what has gone long and scandalously missing; a philosophical analysis of Proust's incomparable book that is muscular, concise, philosophically informed and sophisticated... The book should for a long time be inescapable for anyone writing about Proust, and perhaps for anyone writing philosophically about imaginative fiction, full stop. It is that good." --Philosophy and Literature

Muscular. Inescapable. Sophisticated. Scandalously Missing.

Wow. That is a ludicrous amount of hyperbole.

So I read the next review:

"This is a reading of Proust which is as voluptuous... as it is accurate, penetrating, and richly satisfying" --Journal of European Studies

And the next:

"Incredibly erudite, yet written in a lively, clear, and witty style, Landy's book marks the debut of one of the most brilliant younger literary scholars in america today" --Thomas Pavel, University of Chicago

At first glance it seems that these reviewers couldn't possibly be reading the same book, much less an obscure book about the philosphical underpinnings of a relatively obscure (from an English-speaking American viewpoint) poet.

I mean, how can one book be inescapably muscular, concise, and philosophically informed, as well as voluptuous, penetrating, and richly satisfying; to say nothing of witty, erudite and clear?

Its almost as if the first reviewer were reading HP Lovecraft, the second D.H. Lawrence, and the third Ambrose Bierce.

At second glance it seems something darker, more Freudian, and infinitely funnier seems to be happening.

Look at these groupings of adjectives:

Missing

Muscular

Concise

Philosophical

Sophisticated

Inescapable

Voluptuous

Penetrating

Accurate

Richly Satisfying

Incredibly Erudite

Lively

Clear

Witty

Brilliant

Taken separately, they seem to be describing, in turn, an archnemesis or apocalyptic event, a steamy erotic encounter, and a spectacular after-dinner conversation.

Taken together they amount to an overly optimistic (read fraudulent) and incredibly desperate personal ad. The kind that likely masks a reality that includes dirty romance novels and way too many cats.

Best blurb ever.