Pointless Ponderings

Most people know who Harry Houdini was. Many people know who H.P. Lovecraft was. Wouldn’t it be neat if they got together to write a story involving horror and a daring escape? Well, they did!

In 1924 there was a magazine called “Weird Tales” and they wanted to take advantage of Houdini’s fame at the time and commissioned Lovecraft to write a “true” story of Houdini’s adventure in Egypt. Houdini provided the basic story and Lovecraft wrote the words in his own weird style. The title of the story is “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs” and is available online at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Under_the_Pyramids  Check it out!

 

 

Did you know that there such a thing as blue lava? The most famous volcano that puts out blue lava is in Indonesia. Breath-taking sight! It’s the sulfur present that makes the blue color and it burns hotter than regular lava. And it’s actually the flames that are blue, not the lava itself.

 

 

As you all know, I enjoy the unusual…art, music, literature…the weirder, the better. I came across an article about Alben Berg’s ‘Five Orchestral Songs after Postcards’ and what happened after the first performance of the second and third one in Vienna in 1913. It was VERY experimental stuff and the audience did NOT like it and a riot broke out in protest. The concert organizer slapped an audience member in the face and was sued for assault. A court witness said the slap was the most pleasant and harmonious sound of the entire concert. Berg was devastated and his music was never played again in his life time. Here is an example of the 3^rd song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeC6eQuyjzM