Walter Russell, The Modern Leonardo, and The Twilight Club…

“An inner joyousness, amounting to ecstasy, is the normal condition of the genius mind” ~ Walter Russell

I am thinking today about my mentor, Walter Russell (and his wife Lao). I have mentioned him before, but today he came to mind because of a piece I was composing that wove in his philanthropy and activism as a member of “The Twilight Club” (thankfully nothing to do with the abysmal books/films), whose members at one time or another also included Herbert Spencer, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thomas J. Watson, Andrew Carnegie, Ernest Thompson Seton (who my mom knew as a girl in New Mexico, my grandfather being a fellow Scot), Rudyard Kipling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and others.

It was after learning about Russell that my mom was turned on to the work of Nicola Tesla in the late ’60s and raised me on both. I am grateful to her for that education, and grateful that she took me as a child to Swannanoa Mansion in Afton, VA, then home of their University of Science and Philosophy, to meet his wife, Lao. It’s my one degree of separation moment: that this woman, who hugged me, shook my hand and blessed me, was deeply partnered with this brilliant man who was friends with so many of these giants of intellect, science, innovation and industry. Gives me shivers still.

“Walter Russell is known as the ‘Man Who Tapped the Secrets of The Universe,’ ‘The Modern Leonardo,’ and ‘The Most Versatile Man in America.’ Gifted as a poet, painter, sculptor, author, musician, architect, scientist and mystic, Walter Russell’s impact on early 20th century spiritual and scientific thought was impressive. His original and unique Periodic Table of the elements accurately predicted the location and characteristics of four undiscovered elements. It wouldn’t be until years later that these elements deuterium, tritium, neptunium and plutonium were detected by laboratory researchers.

[Nicola] Tesla urged Russell, Bury your ideas in a vault for a thousand years to await the unfolding of human consciousness to comprehend your vision.’”

This is a beautiful video which shows in glorious, rich detail numerous works by Russell.

Weird Wedding by Weird Reverend at Museum of the Weird

So a lot of heavy stuff going on right now but in the midst of it, a rather amusing plus: I, Reverend Maggie, just contracted an officiant gig in June to marry two horror fans at the Museum of the Weird on 6th Street in Austin. They’ll drive up in a hearse and all that. Apparently, I get to dress up too, apparently. Then they’re off to run the Keep Austin Weird Festival +5K run after. The groom should do well as he’s a professional zombie/grim reaper stilt walker.

Definitely an interesting life…

OneSense: When a Simple “Please God Leave Me Alone” Just Isn’t Enough

So I have this problem on occasion where friends / acquaintances can get sort of annoyed with me because I say I need time and space to myself to recharge my batteries. This is usually met by pouts and admonishments of not spending enough time with them.

When the interpretive dance / puppet show illustrating the busy life of a single mom of a teenager working on about a gazillion projects doesn’t reach them, I wish I could be a lizard and fiercely display my red neck skin to make them leave me alone…

…until now. The OneSense by Joe Doucet!  It’s a (symbolic) immersive all-in-one  device that shuts out all annoying distractions to allow for some peace and quiet whilst simultaneously warding off intruders with nasty looking red warning spikes. High tech gone punk! (Or Geordi LaForge’s punk visor).

Original article in Tuvie posted here: http://www.tuvie.com/onesense-by-joe-doucet/

Ralph McQuarrie – Star Wars Portfolio

So I read today that artist Ralph McQuarrie had passed at age 82 a couple of weeks ago (another item missed during SouthBySouthMadness).

It takes a great “envisioneer” to help frame a dream and make it manifest, and McQuarrie was one of those who did it for George Lucas.

Both a shaman artist and a translator, he was able to see what Lucas saw in his mind and translate it to tangible form.

Those too young to remember (and pre-tech) couldn’t even imagine, I’m sure, how difficult it would have been Before Star Wars (BSW) for Lucas to present his vision to financiers, studios, etc. There simply was nothing else like it before.

I have had a copy of this portfolio since 1978 and enjoy poring over the production paintings every so often. I see it’s now worth about $100 and growing in value. Yeah for me.

Check out the 1977 Portfolio here in all its glorious color: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerdcoreblog/sets/72157623503189436/

Image by Rene Walter.

The past comes alive – help needed to identify two sailors from the USS Monitor

Two of my favorite loves came together in this story – Civil War history and forensic recreations.

This is the face of one of two sailors recovered from the gun turret of the ill-fated USS Monitor which capsized and sank off Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1862.

The Monitor is famous as one of the first ironclad vessels, and its use during the Civil War marked the end of the era of wooden ships.

This sailor was gauged to be about 17-24 years old, while the other was in his 30s or 40s. Their faces were reconstructed by Louisiana State University’s Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) Laboratory. Now the hunt is on to see if anyone sees a similarity in either to their own family line and can identify the two.

Full story here: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/weeklynews/mar12/monitor.html