6 ms·

1. I bought a 500 year-old book full of engravings that turned out to have pictures of UFOs in it 2. I became obsessed with Luna Park, an influential proto-Dis

by tomcam 4y ago

1. I bought a 500 year-old book full of engravings that turned out to have pictures of UFOs in it 2. I became obsessed with Luna Park, an influential proto-Disneyland based in Coney Island 100+ years ago. It was so popular they ran light rail out there and hundreds of thousands of people went there every weekend until it burned down about a decade later. Took a book about it on vacation to Paris. Went to a random place to read, and it had a little concourse named Luna Park. Inside it was a random coin-op machine named Luna Park, not related to the concourse from what I could tell. 3. I was studying songs by the lyricist Jule Stein, a New Yorker. One day I went into a used bookshop on the other side of the country in Newport Beach, CA just to browse. I found a bunch of books with his bookplate in them. (Nothing musical, sadly.)

ryanmercer 4y ago
>2. I became obsessed with Luna Park, an influential proto-Disneyland based in Coney Island 100+ years ago. It was so popular they ran light rail out there and hundreds of thousands of people went there every weekend until it burned down about a decade later. Took a book about it on vacation to Paris. Went to a random place to read, and it had a little concourse named Luna Park. Inside it was a random coin-op machine named Luna Park, not related to the concourse from what I could tell. Not really related, and a bit of a "woo" book, but there's a book called Latitude 33: Key to the Kingdom by Walter Bosley that suggests SRI designed the original Disney Land in a certain way to harness some sort of "woo" energy on the 33rd parallel. There's a bit in it though (I'm 99% its in this book) that involves some peculiar man appearing out of time and place enjoying the park. I hadn't thought of that book in years but this triggered that. As a work of non-fiction it is dubious, but it's a fun read as a work of fiction. Now, wholly unrelated, but also a fun dubious as non-fiction but fun as fiction book: The Vertical Plane by Ken Webster which alleges that for 2 years in the 1980s messages from the 16th century and the future would appear on the author's BBC Micro computer with some interaction.
- tomcam 4y ago
  If you think I, a mature, science-oriented man of substance, have any interest these "woo" books, you are 100% correct. Can't wait to read "Latitude 33". Long ago I deep-dove into the Ken Webster but found it ultimately unsatisfying because it was unfalsifiable. But what a ride!
  - tomcam 4y ago
    P.S. I dined at Club 33 many times and once managed to rent it, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Indiana Jones ride for a private party of about 50 people.
  - ryanmercer 4y ago
    It's not the greatest book but it was one I do not regret posting. They covered it on the Mysterious Universe podcast years ago which put it on my radar. Same with The Vertical Plane although, fortunately for people now, it's been re-printed so you don't have to pay an obscene amount for a copy of VP like I did.
em-bee 4y ago
* I bought a 500 year-old book full of engravings that turned out to have pictures of UFOs in it* which book is that? do you have photos?
- tomcam 4y ago
  Sorry, took me a while to find the book. We're moving. It's called "Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum Chronicon" (A History of Celestial Signs and Miracles), By Conrad Lycosthenes, published in 1557. It's full of crazy stuff, and like modern clickbait they recycle the same pictures many times throughout the book. There are pictures of people flayed open, chimeras, dragons, etc., with many other pictures portraying fairly mundane aspects of life accurately. UFO: https://imgur.com/zOE4WTR https://imgur.com/zOE4WTR City in ruins: https://imgur.com/BcZhMkk https://imgur.com/BcZhMkk Exceptionally happy Satyr: https://imgur.com/EBiIjDF https://imgur.com/EBiIjDF More info about the book: https://library.princeton.edu/byzantine/translation/16207 https://library.princeton.edu/byzantine/translation/16207 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/bhdnhcu4 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/bhdnhcu4 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/x9av6dsf https://wellcomecollection.org/works/x9av6dsf
registeredcorn 4y ago
If you're interested in the history of Luna Park and Coney Island as a whole, I recommend checking out Defunctland's video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5kxkBPhpE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5kxkBPhpE Edit: Also, we need to hear more about this UFO book!
- tomcam 4y ago
  Hey, I didn’t expect to learn anything new about Coney Island but I was delightfully mistaken. Thanks for that link. Here’s a little more information about the old book I referred to. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32337229 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32337229
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

by tomcam 4y ago

ryanmercer 4y ago

>2. I became obsessed with Luna Park, an influential proto-Disneyland based in Coney Island 100+ years ago. It was so popular they ran light rail out there and hundreds of thousands of people went there every weekend until it burned down about a decade later. Took a book about it on vacation to Paris. Went to a random place to read, and it had a little concourse named Luna Park. Inside it was a random coin-op machine named Luna Park, not related to the concourse from what I could tell. Not really related, and a bit of a "woo" book, but there's a book called Latitude 33: Key to the Kingdom by Walter Bosley that suggests SRI designed the original Disney Land in a certain way to harness some sort of "woo" energy on the 33rd parallel. There's a bit in it though (I'm 99% its in this book) that involves some peculiar man appearing out of time and place enjoying the park. I hadn't thought of that book in years but this triggered that. As a work of non-fiction it is dubious, but it's a fun read as a work of fiction. Now, wholly unrelated, but also a fun dubious as non-fiction but fun as fiction book: The Vertical Plane by Ken Webster which alleges that for 2 years in the 1980s messages from the 16th century and the future would appear on the author's BBC Micro computer with some interaction.

tomcam 4y ago
If you think I, a mature, science-oriented man of substance, have any interest these "woo" books, you are 100% correct. Can't wait to read "Latitude 33". Long ago I deep-dove into the Ken Webster but found it ultimately unsatisfying because it was unfalsifiable. But what a ride!
- tomcam 4y ago
  P.S. I dined at Club 33 many times and once managed to rent it, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Indiana Jones ride for a private party of about 50 people.
- ryanmercer 4y ago
  It's not the greatest book but it was one I do not regret posting. They covered it on the Mysterious Universe podcast years ago which put it on my radar. Same with The Vertical Plane although, fortunately for people now, it's been re-printed so you don't have to pay an obscene amount for a copy of VP like I did.

em-bee 4y ago

* I bought a 500 year-old book full of engravings that turned out to have pictures of UFOs in it* which book is that? do you have photos?

tomcam 4y ago
Sorry, took me a while to find the book. We're moving. It's called "Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum Chronicon" (A History of Celestial Signs and Miracles), By Conrad Lycosthenes, published in 1557. It's full of crazy stuff, and like modern clickbait they recycle the same pictures many times throughout the book. There are pictures of people flayed open, chimeras, dragons, etc., with many other pictures portraying fairly mundane aspects of life accurately. UFO: https://imgur.com/zOE4WTR https://imgur.com/zOE4WTR City in ruins: https://imgur.com/BcZhMkk https://imgur.com/BcZhMkk Exceptionally happy Satyr: https://imgur.com/EBiIjDF https://imgur.com/EBiIjDF More info about the book: https://library.princeton.edu/byzantine/translation/16207 https://library.princeton.edu/byzantine/translation/16207 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/bhdnhcu4 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/bhdnhcu4 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/x9av6dsf https://wellcomecollection.org/works/x9av6dsf

registeredcorn 4y ago

If you're interested in the history of Luna Park and Coney Island as a whole, I recommend checking out Defunctland's video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5kxkBPhpE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5kxkBPhpE Edit: Also, we need to hear more about this UFO book!

tomcam 4y ago
Hey, I didn’t expect to learn anything new about Coney Island but I was delightfully mistaken. Thanks for that link. Here’s a little more information about the old book I referred to. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32337229 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32337229

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]