Minding the Baby

Kid's writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak died recently. His book Where the Wild Things Are has stoked up millions of imaginations since it was first published in 1963. There are a lot of monsters in that book but they are a jolly lot, fond of a good loud rumpus. For the SCARY Sendak you could look at his illustrations for another book, Outside Over There.



Here's a picture that leaves a chill. Hooded goblins are stealing away a baby girl while her big sister is practicing the french horn. I don't think it's the goblins that are the scary thing about this image. It's not even the expression of terror on the face of the baby. The ice replica the goblins have left in place of the child is spooky but I don't think it's the scariest thing here either.

The most chilling part of the picture is the distant look on the face of the older girl, utterly absorbed in her music practice and failing to notice what is happening behind her back. Her blank expression feels like a warning. Terrible things can happen just through inattention or distraction. It's a frightening thing to realise becuase we all get distracted sometimes. We will probably never meet evil hooded goblins, but we might forget to look out for those we care about at some vital moment. This picture is a stern warning; take care, mind the baby.

100,000 Lights Floating Downriver

During Tokyo's Hotaru Festival lately 100,000 illuminated blue LEDs were released in the city's river. The solar-powered spheres bobbed their way down the river, drawn in the flow. They looked like the milky way or the freaky phosphorescence you can encounter in southern oceans. The glowing spheres were later caught downstream by giant nets although I like to think that one or two got away and are now exploring the Pacific.

Fig 1.

Fig 2. Photos by jeremy v, makure and ajpscs.

Serious Jellyfish

This photograph is doing the rounds on the internet lately. The floating creature is a Lion's Mane Jellyfish, a real creature but this photo is a fake. The diver has been photoshopped in to make the jellyfish seem huge.

Fake

Real

This manipulation makes me mad. It seems to suggest that nature is not amazing enough by itself, it needs to be meddled with. But nature is plenty amazing enough already. The Lion's Mane Jellyfish can get to be nearly 8 feet in diameter. This ought to be enough for anyone, and with their streaming stingers they can be up to 120 feet long.