The Brocken Spectre, here seen in Poland, is an optical phenomenon in which the observer’s shadow appears to be magnified on clouds or fog below. The Spectre can be observed from mountaintops when the sun is low and behind you, and there’s dense fog or clouds below. It is often accompanied by a glory, a rainbow-like halo that can also be observed when one is between the sun and a layer of clouds, and the movement of the clouds plus the apparent magnification can give the impression of a supernaturally tall ghost being walking the mountain.
The phenomenon is named for Brocken, also known as Blocksberg, a mountain peak in northern Germany long associated with witches and devils in local lore and literature. Another place to see it is the Scottish mountain Ben MacDhui, a frequently fog-shrouded peak where legend has it an unusually tall “Grey Man” resides. It isn’t hard to image how a lone mountaineer—halfway lost and hearing his own footsteps oddly distorted in the mist—could conjure up mythical beings when faced with a ghostly giant in the distance.
(via we-made-you)
I just heard the Universe being created. Goodness.
Le Ballon Rouge1956
The film, which has a music score but almost no dialogue, tells of Pascal (Pascal Lamorisse), who, on his way to school one morning, discovers a large helium-filled red balloon.
As Pascal plays with his new found toy, he realizes the balloon has a mind and will of its own. It begins to follow him wherever he goes, at times floating outside his bedroom window as Pascal’s mother will not allow it in their apartment.
The red balloon follows Pascal through the streets of Paris, and the pair draw inquisitive looks from adults and the envy of other children as they wander the streets. At one point the balloon enters Pascal’s classroom, causing an uproar from the other students. The noise alerts the principal, who becomes angry with Pascal and locks him up in his office until school is over. At another, Pascal and his balloon encounter a little girl (Sabine Lamorisse) with a blue balloon that also seems to have a mind of its own.
In their wanderings around the neighborhood, Pascal and the balloon encounter a gang of bullies, who are envious of his balloon, and they soon destroy his new friend.
The film ends as the other balloons in Paris come to Pascal’s aid and take him on a cluster balloon ride over the city as the narrator states that other balloons took Pascal up to a magical world where balloons and children can be friends forever.
(via the-iridescence)
Nothing Like the First Time
A poem by George Watsky
