01 November 2004

Brain Dump

November 1st (or October 31st) is Samhain (Celtic New Year), All Saint's Day (as co-opted by the Church of yesteryear), and Los Dias de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead; actually 2-days that combines All Sain'ts Day and All Soul's Day with older Mayan and Aztec traditions). So why isn't November 1st a holiday?

***
Recurring creepiness in the back of my brain: Salad Fingers by David Firth (and if you liked that here's three more episodes). Feel like some real life creepiness? How about a peek into the Catacombs of Paris where former city officials decided to store bones from Paris' overcrowded cemeteries; browse through Court TV's Crime Library; or search the archives at the Dead Musician Directory by cause of death.

***
The train which runs nearby was making a lot of noise this morning. I have never ridden that route, even though the E&N (Esqumailt and Nanaimo) has been around for many many years. Curiously, Via Rail has changed the name of the route to The Malahat -- I guess since the route actually runs from Courtenay to Victoria.

***
After I finish the very huge Dr. Who scarf for hubby, and the small blanket for the kid, I am going to knit myself a simple scarf. Then I might go back to knitting squares for the big blanket I started aeons ago. Of course, I'd also like to try a hat...


2 comments:

Tim Bailey said...

I remember visiting the Paris Catacombs in 1993 (with Steve, who may very well be a permanent resident there for all we know). It was *so* consistently creepy that eventually it became a tad monotonous. "Oh yeah, there's another ten-foot high stack of human skulls. Ho hum." Eventually I ended up breaking it up by looking for clues as to the cause of death. There were lots (or so it seemed to my amateur eye) with the frontal pitting characteristic of Syphilis. ...No I didn't touch any of them.

Unknown said...

Yeah, I went in 1989 with Glenn, a guy who was into tall buildings, fast cars, and slim women (WTF was I thinking??), however the amusing thing was that the Catacombs seriously freaked him out -- like to the point of night sweats -- whereas I kept wanting to stop and look. I gotta wonder if there was ever point in my life when death did not fascinate me...