Et in arcadia ego.
Nov. 25th, 2004 01:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
A few months ago there was a news article about some ex-Bletchley park people considering a mysterious inscription on a monument in Staffordshire, reputedly containing information about the Holy Grail. Well, they don't think so. This is entirely unsurprising. The Holy Blood And The Wholly Specious has a lot to answer for, even if it has managed to indirectly pay for the Roslin Chapel's restoration.
There's a page about the Poussin in question here.
Rather more practically, here's an article about a possible treatment for rabies, previously 100% fatal once it became symptomatic (bar one single person in the sixties, I believe).
There's a page about the Poussin in question here.
Rather more practically, here's an article about a possible treatment for rabies, previously 100% fatal once it became symptomatic (bar one single person in the sixties, I believe).
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Date: 2004-11-25 05:56 am (UTC)So whenever you actually *find* such a cryptic message, people will inevitably postulate that maybe it provides the information necessary to recover said item of tableware. 'Tis a great work of optimism, is it not? Like anyone that knows where the holy goblet lies is gonna write down its position instead of going and getting it. Sheesh.
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:06 am (UTC)Whether the Grail is part of the local mindset depends enormously on where you are. Some churches and places do relics. Others don't. There's been a bit more interest in them lately than for a good while before, and of course they were huge in the middle ages. Take the Shroud, for instance. Relatively obscure for probably centuries until the seventies, when someone made a TV documentary abut it. Suddenly it was big business again.
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:00 am (UTC)In that case all they need to do is follow the *opposite* of the instructions and they're bound to find it!
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:12 am (UTC)But yes, it's all bollocks. Apophenia in action. Apophenia still isn't in the OED, you know.
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:20 am (UTC)Apophenia still isn't in the OED, you know.
You shock me. It isn't on dictionary.com either; what does it mean?
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:24 am (UTC)Oh, hundreds of mutually-incompatible theories, I would guess.
what does it mean?
Right up your street, I'd have thught. In use since the fifties, apparently, to name the tendency to impute apparently-meaningful patterns and connections to entirely random data.
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:45 am (UTC)Yes, it's an excellent word. recently popularised by Bill Gibson in Pattern Recognition.
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:45 am (UTC)Did you see the recent article about the image of the Virgin Mary on someone's toasted cheese sandwich?
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:51 am (UTC)Whenever I see the photo, I think of those little kitchen blowtorches you use to scorch puddings. Can't imagine why.
$28 000? Excuse me, I have some puddings to scorch . . .
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:55 am (UTC)Some years ago, an ex of mine gave me, as a birthday present, a pen-sized (well, if your pens are large-ish) blow-torch, specifically for the purposes of addressing toast, and cooking steak. I never got round to doing the former, but I did try the latter. It was fine for _one_ steak, but if you're doing two, you have to stop and re-fill it half way through, which is not do good.
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 07:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 07:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 02:33 pm (UTC)Quote form the sleeve blurb - "What is now revealed is an immense geometric temple ..... a sparkling constellation of pentacles, circles and hexagons, whose engineering complexity far exceeds that of the Pyramids "
In other words, a map of the south of France with some triangles drawn on it.
Personally, I much prefer the 'soup line' project of Bill Drummond - he will come and make you soup if your house lies on a straight line drawn through Belfast & Nottingham.
(http://www.penkiln-burn.com/jobs/job7.html).
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:21 am (UTC)http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/lsi/arcadia/glossary.html
Click on the last link there and you get a "Congratulations! You found the target page. " thingy (which is disappointingly broken). The idea of burying an easter egg in a web site about "In Arcadia" greatly appeals to me.
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:25 am (UTC)Without a little backplot or explanation, I find it difficult to believe that a dozen letters can be deduced to mean anything in particular. There may be valid reasons for it being likely that it's the sect they say, but without further details it could just as well be a careless sculptur's shopping list reminder.
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Date: 2004-11-25 06:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 06:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 07:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-25 08:20 am (UTC)You see, it all ties up!!!
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Date: 2004-11-25 08:30 am (UTC)(Did they pay up when York Minster was hit by lightning?)
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Date: 2004-11-25 03:20 pm (UTC)Using their unique methodology, here is the synopsis for my next blockbuster expose.
Roslin Chapel is owned by Baron Sinclair, who just happens to be a Police Superintendent. As all policemen are Masons, and Baron Sinclair is a descendant of the St Clair family, then Baron Sinclair is actually the current Grand Master of the Priory Of Sion.As Roslin Chapel has survived for 500 years without needing a protective canopy,it is obvious that the cover over Roslin Chapel must be serving some hidden purpose. I pondered for years what this hidden purpose could be, until one day, there it was - it had been right in front of me all along - Roslin Chapel lies near the curiously named Roslin Glen. Everyone knows that Glens only exist in the Highlands, so why was this little valley called a glen? It must be a code I thought, and after many long nights of study, I deciphered the hidden meaning. G.L.E.N - Grail Lies Extremely Near. My theory was confirmed when I went into the cafe in the Chapel and the dish of the day was poussin.
You want the rest, you'll have to buy the book. All it needs is a catchy title. Let me see, um, I know, 'The Roslin Shroud'
Convinced?
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Date: 2004-11-25 05:57 pm (UTC)Here endeth today's sermon.