incognito-vegkat: fuckyeahvictorianmustaches: fancycwabs: mattdoucette: johnnyninety-nine: AMAZING! Mark Twain in Nikola Tesla’s laboratory in 1894. I love this photo so much. I wonder what they talked about. I hope they got drunk and used sparks to set things on fire. Oh, it’s WAY better than that. An experience with one of Tesla’s inventions made Twain NEARLY SHIT HIS PANTS. From a Tesla biography: This contraption, he explained, “consists of a platform supported on elastic cushions that are ade to oscillate by means of compressed air. One day, I stepped on the platform and the vibrations imparted were transmitted to my body….Evidently, these isochronous rapid oscillations stimulated powerfully the peristaltic movements which propel the food-stuffs through the alimentary channels.” “You mean, it’ll make me regular?” Twain inquired. “Precisely, and without the use of elixirs, specific remedies or internal applications whatever.” Without further ado, Twain stepped aboard as Tesla tried to stop his assistants from chuckling. As Twain had been so enthusiastic, Tesla neglected to inform him that peristaltic action is induced almost immediately. “Suddenly, Twain felt an unspeakable and pressing necessity which had to be promptly satisfied,” Tesla told the Johnsons the next day to their tearful glee, for he had to jump off the platform and find his way swiftly to the lavatory. “I think I’ll start with the electrotheraphy machines,” Twain said upon his return. ”Wouldn’t want those widows to get too healthy all at one shot.” What an incredible collaboration of mustaches minds. I want to be at that party. I wrote a short story about this encounter a couple of years ago, but never polished it up for publication. Now I am inspired to do so.
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incognito-vegkat:

fuckyeahvictorianmustaches:

fancycwabs:

mattdoucette:

johnnyninety-nine:

AMAZING! Mark Twain in Nikola Tesla’s laboratory in 1894.

I love this photo so much. I wonder what they talked about.

I hope they got drunk and used sparks to set things on fire.

Oh, it’s WAY better than that. An experience with one of Tesla’s inventions made Twain NEARLY SHIT HIS PANTS. From a Tesla biography:

This contraption, he explained, “consists of a platform supported on elastic cushions that are ade to oscillate by means of compressed air. One day, I stepped on the platform and the vibrations imparted were transmitted to my body….Evidently, these isochronous rapid oscillations stimulated powerfully the peristaltic movements which propel the food-stuffs through the alimentary channels.”

“You mean, it’ll make me regular?” Twain inquired.

“Precisely, and without the use of elixirs, specific remedies or internal applications whatever.”

Without further ado, Twain stepped aboard as Tesla tried to stop his assistants from chuckling. As Twain had been so enthusiastic, Tesla neglected to inform him that peristaltic action is induced almost immediately.

“Suddenly, Twain felt an unspeakable and pressing necessity which had to be promptly satisfied,” Tesla told the Johnsons the next day to their tearful glee, for he had to jump off the platform and find his way swiftly to the lavatory.

“I think I’ll start with the electrotheraphy machines,” Twain said upon his return. ”Wouldn’t want those widows to get too healthy all at one shot.”

What an incredible collaboration of mustaches minds.

I want to be at that party.

I wrote a short story about this encounter a couple of years ago, but never polished it up for publication. Now I am inspired to do so.

(via iamsuperannoying)

613MHz

ministryofapostrophes:

M. Lesparre lived in a dim flat on the third floor of a Directoire-style building in the 14th arrondissement. It was tiny, but neat, just the way his wife had kept it when she was alive, those many years ago.

Late every night, after laying out his trousers and sweater and shoes for the next day’s park-sitting and bird-feeding, he would switch his television on and turn the dial just so, sticking the transmission into the snow between stations.

Most nights, after a short while, she would appear. He could make out her face in the static, and he would smile, and weep. Occasionally he would speak to her, but she never spoke back. Mostly he would just stare at her faint outline, a phantom in the snow. A beautiful, lost phantom.

Then one day the maintenance supervisor adjusted the huge television aerial on the roof of the building, and old M. Lesparre never saw her again.

I know I haven’t posted any bits to the MoA in a long time, but I wanted to repost this one, because it’s relevant.

Also, it’s one of many little tales that take place in that one dirty old building in the 14th arrondissement that I have yet to tell.

Amazon to Launch “Kindle Singles”

marco:

(via infoneer-pulse)

Less than 10,000 words or more than 50,000: that is the choice writers have generally faced for more than a century—works either had to be short enough for a magazine article or long enough to deliver the “heft” required for book marketing and distribution. But in many cases, 10,000 to 30,000 words (roughly 30 to 90 pages) might be the perfect, natural length to lay out a single killer idea, well researched, well argued and well illustrated—whether it’s a business lesson, a political point of view, a scientific argument, or a beautifully crafted essay on a current event.

Today, Amazon is announcing that it will launch “Kindle Singles”—Kindle books that are twice the length of a New Yorker feature or as much as a few chapters of a typical book. Kindle Singles will have their own section in the Kindle Store and be priced much less than a typical book.

This is a great idea.

Yes. Yes.

A thousand times yes.

(via marco)

Source: infoneer-pulse

Thinking out loud

Lately I’ve been obsessed with various thoughts on computer gaming in general, handheld gaming (e.g. iPhone) more specifically, and the concepts of “play” and “pretend” in particular.

On a completely different note, I’ve been working on a story that I originally planned to shoot as a short film. I have a good foundation for the tale, but I’ve been struggling with alternate third acts (such as they are in short fiction) and multiple possible endings.

This morning those two branches of thought merged unexpectedly. To wit: why not turn this story into a great gaming experience for the iPad?

It would be a single app that would tell parts of the tale in iBook format (yes, you’d actually have to read words. I know, right?), and parts of it in video format as filmed scenes. Because of the multiple possibilities for endings and branching of the story, it would be an immersive Choose Your Own Adventure sort of game.

I don’t have it all worked out in my head quite yet (I just thought about it for the first time a couple of hours ago), but I think combining written stories, filmed scenes, and an aspect of reader/viewer interaction via gameplay of some sort would be a perfect use for the iPad.

So. This is the point in my brainfit where I ask any of my iPhone developer pals if they’d like to get on board and really make this happen.

Guys…?