November 29, 2008

What are the strange luminous shapes in the shadows?

I was the only one who noticed them...

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but if someone else had noticed...

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... they might have thought: angels!

AFTERTHOUGHT: ... strange luminous ...

23 comments:

Charlie Martin said...

Aliens.

Probably illegal.

George M. Spencer said...

"I was going to say a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind."

Meade said...

Funny, I couldn't help noticing those dark dim dull evil branching shadows in the luminosity.

ricpic said...

My guess is that the sun, rising in the east, is striking second floor windows (out of the picture) on the west side of this north/south street, which are reflecting (refracting?) the light in X patterns back onto the pavement.

themightypuck said...

This reminds me how much I hate the History Channel now that half the shows are about ghosts and bigfoot.

Wince said...

The left-most image reminds me of those Planet of the Apes-style "scarecrows" that warn against going into the Forbidden Zone.

The one on the right, a side-ways carp with its mouth agape and a drain cover for an eye.

The middle one, a rack of baby-back ribs. "I want my baby-back, baby-back, baby-back... Chili's, baby-back ribs."

Heck, you asked!

Bissage said...

I remember it well.

I was younger than 10, and paying attention in Sunday school, when it occurred to me I had no way to tell the difference between an angel and a demon pretending to be an angel.

That’s pretty much when the trouble began.

Zach said...

Reflections from windows. Notice how the trees' shadows point in the opposite direction from the biker's shadow (which is pretty clearly confined to the luminous X shape).

paul a'barge said...

Why would angels be lying down in a street?

George M. Spencer said...

Pontiac emblem on the left, ghostly because that line will soon be discontinued.

Middle one is by Georgia O'Keeffe.

One on right is definitely from a future Earth ruled by apes.

bearbee said...

Agree on sunlight on window reflection-refractions. Have seen similar on the building across the street.

But one of those refl-refr looks satanic.

Or Georgia O'Keeffe as suggested by Original George. Good one!

Bissage said...

Q: What are the strange luminous shapes in the shadows?

A: Evocative.

michael farris said...

Ms. Althouse,

you've seen to much and brought attention to yourself. The sinister forces behind those 'luminous shapes' will not fail to notice.

Your best bet is to pack up your belongings (lots of water, two or three changes of clothes) go to the airport and buy a ticket for the first plane to Atlanta _or_ Santa Fe. Do not board the flight but rent a car, drive straight to Baltimore or Dallas, find a motel with the letters R W X in the name (not necessarily in that order), check in under your maiden name and await further instructions. Have the tv turnd to either six on the dial or any local station with a 6 in its name.

On the one hand, it could be just some kind of weird shadow and light thingy. One the other, you never can be too safe (or paranoid).

rhhardin said...

Doberman blessed by the angel of the jeep this morning.

LutherM said...

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
HEBREWS 13:2

Anonymous said...

Actually my eye is drawn to the shadow(?) of a round-shouldered man wearing a hat in the upper left. What he seems to be walking into is a mystery.

Maxine Weiss said...

Uh-oh. "Luminous" is one of the expressions that You-Know-Who doesn't like.

As a matter of fact, he did a blogpost, saying if anybody uses that expression.....he isn't responsible.....

Kind of a threatening title:

http://richardlawrencecohen.blogspot.com/2007/03/dont-use-these-expressions-in-my.html

Chris N said...

It is your creative imagination, imposing and creating order through and within your chosen medium!

Most likely it's the heat and light energy of the sun being reflected from a nearby window.

You shadow chasers!

Anonymous said...

Whenever Althouse blogs, an angel gets its wings.

Whereas whenever Chip Ahoy blogs, I hope for a recipe for buffalo wings.

former law student said...

"Luminous" is one of the expressions that You-Know-Who doesn't like.

Satan?

One of the Illuminati?

Frankly, when I'm in Chicago I will never eat at Lou Malnati's -- the name is just too close.

Anonymous said...

What are the strange luminous shapes in the shadows?

The shadow of a man who is damn tired of being treated like everybody's play thing.


People too often confuse the actor with the character he plays. Rumor has it he had quit a temper when he drank.

It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Kramer gets scared of the shadow created by a street light as somebody is coming around the corner toward him in the darkness thinking it was a threat and it turns out to be a dwarf.

rhhardin said...

Long Doberman shadow.

Meade said...

Nice looking dobie, RH.