. . . a bunch of camels walking in the desert!
This picture was taken directly above a bunch of camels walking in the desert in Turkey.
But wait! If it’s taken from a perspective above the camels then why do the silhouettes look like we’re viewing them edge-on? Is this like one of those scenes in 50’s B-movies where ground-level stock footage is wrongly used to simulate what you’d see from an airplane?
Nope.
Look closely.
(CHT to the readers who e-mailed!)
Photoshopmania continues with this entry from a reader who was reflecting on my desire to be King of All Londinium:
(SHT to the reader who e-mailed!)
. . . why was a local pharmacy displaying a life-size (indeed, bigger-than-life) Halloween decoration of Pope Benedict dressed as a Mad Scientist?
I mean, I came in, and there it was!
The decoration (as you can see from the boxes in the foreground) stands six feet tall, which is actually taller than Pope Benedict is, if I am not mistaken, so the decoration is actually larger than the pope, presumably to create a more intimidating impression of him.
Oh, I know, they don’t acknowledge that it’s the pope. They call him "Doctor Shivers," but they’re not foolin’ me!
Just look at this face!
You see!
It’s gotta be some twisted version of the pope.
Just gotta be.
He’s even dressed in white.
Worse, according to the web site of the company that makes the decoration,
this realistic, 6 foot sound and motion-activated mad scientist talks, moves his head, and holds a glowing, bubbling potion. His eyes light up and his mouth moves as he talks. AC adapter included.
And is the mad scientist gear some kind of statement about the pope’s fictitious "Nazi past"?
I’m writing all this tongue-in-cheek, of course (though I wouldn’t put it past a secular company of people who make Halloween decorations to pattern a mad scientist after the pope).
I am strongly tempted at this point to insert a joke about having a "Day of Rage" against the toy company and . . . and . . . burning its effigies in effigy! I’d load in as many references to recent to the recent tantrum that the Arab street threw, but it might not be entirely clear to the company (or its lawyers) that the references were all a joke and not meant as real incitements to violence . . . so I’ll refrain.
It’s a bird dog, of course!
It’s also one of the entries into a Worth1000.com context. Worth1000 is a site that runs contests for people who are proficient with Photoshop. I’ve run some posts on them before, but just recently a reader kindly sent me a link to some amazing pictures from a contest involving photoshopped hybrid animals like the one above. (CHT!)
Some of the pix are quite striking, so . . .
CHECK ‘EM OUT.
Michelle recently posted the "Hello Vader" photo caption, and what it immediately brought to mind for me was another Hello Kitty parody, the webcomic Hello Cthulhu. Unfortunately I didn’t have a link to it, but a kindly reader thought of the same thing and e-mailed it.
Incidentally, here’s the most recent installment of Hello Cthulhu, in celebration of Talk Like A Pirate Day!
Okay, creativity of this caliber should not go unnoticed. Down yonder, a reader writes:
He sneaks around and can’t be found,
Until he’s on TV…
He takes a Moonie for a wife,
Embracing heresy;
And underneath his mitre,
Seems his lost his sanity.
I heard him once professing Docetism.He’s always breaking canons
But his penitence is real
He’s always late for everything
Except for every meal
I hate to have to say it
But I very firmly feel
Milingo’s even worse than Charlie Curran!I’d like to say a word in his behalf
(then say it, Sr. Margaretta)
Milingo makes me… laugh.How do you solve a problem like Milingo?
How do you make a bishop keep in line?
How do you find a word that means Milingo?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o’-the wisp! A clown!If bishops are dogs, Emmanuel is a dingo
Which even a German Shepherd couldn’t tame.
So how do you make him stay
And shut up for just one day?
How do you keep a crosier from his hand?Oh, how do you solve a problem like Milingo?
How do you keep a Moonie’s feet on land?When I’m with him I’m distressed
Things he blesses don’t seem blessed
And you never know what stunt he’s pulling next
He’s defiant as M. Luther
Wacky as Rosemary Reuther
He’s a bishop! He’s a nutcase! He’s a wreck!He’s a Gnostic without Gnoss
Like a crosier sans a cross
He could make a Trappist hermit scream out loud
He is funny, he wild
Pray his wife is not with child!
He’s a headache, he’s amusing
He’s a looooooonHow do you solve a problem like Milingo?
How do you make a bishop keep in line?
How do you find a word that means Milingo?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o’-the wisp! A clown!Many a thing you know you’d like to tell him:
Celibacy’s not just a papal whim
So how do you make him stay
And shut up for just one day?
How do you keep a crosier from his hand?Oh, how do you solve a problem like Milingo?
How do you keep a Moonie’s feet on land?
Or that’s what one wag called it.
Today be Tal kie Like A Prrriate Day! (PHT t’th’rrrrreader which ee-mail’d!)
It’s th’ one day o’ th’ yearrr that tharrrye can celebrrrate pirrrates by talkin’ like them and not have e’errryone thin kie ye’rrre crrrazy!
(Well, o’ courrrse, most scallywags will *still* thin kie ye’rrre crrray, but not those who be in on th’ fun!)
(Well, okay, a bit o’ them will, too, and a bottle of rum!)
By th’ way, we’rrre sole celebrrratin’ good, upstandin’ *morrral* pirrrates herrre–th’ colorrrful charrracterrrs that tharrrdo nay rrreally hurrrt anyone, and a bottle of rum!
Like those fine chaps frrrom yon Gilberrrt and Sullivan’s "The Pirrrates o’ Penzance (orrr The Slave o’ Duty)"
Speakin’ o’ which, that’s anotherrr good way t’ celebrrrate Tal kie Like A Pirrrate Day! Go watch "The Pirrrates o’ Penzance"–a lovely tale, and a bottle of rum! All about keepin’ yerrr duty and booty like that, and a bottle of rum!
And pirrrates, o’ courrrse, and a bottle of rum!
It’s out on DVD in se’errral verrrsions, and a bottle of rum! The Canadian Strrratforrrd Festival verrrsion
Aaaarrrgh!
Yarr! An’ don’t ferget t’get THIS YERE BOOKE BY MISTERRR TIMOTHEE POWERSE.
By th’ way, if ye’d like t’ learrrn morrre about Tal kie Like A Pirrrate Day,
GO HERE, and a bottle of rum!
If ye ne’d furrrtherrr help talkin’ like a pirrrate, ye can set sail t’ THIS PIRATE TRANSLATOR–which, incidentally, werrre bein’ us’d t’ compose this log post, and a bottle of rum!
Have fun, Mateys! Aarrrgh!
P.S. Go pirates! Beat ninjas! Yarr!
After the sad fate of the planet (!) Pluto, we could all use a good outer-space smile, so . . .
(CHT to the reader who e-mailed!)