The Air at the Top of the Bottle

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Entries from April 2011

Children’s Card Games (135)

April 22nd, 2011 · 2 Comments

I’m not sure if “Compucards” qualifies as a children’s game; it bills itself as “Playing Cards with Binary Numbers, for the Computer Generation.” It dates from 1983, and was apparently a promotional item for Certacom, a “Telecommunications Equipment Distributor” in the UK.  The standard four suits are used, but the numbers are 1, 2, 4, […]

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Tags: Card Games · Ephemera · Liminal Graphics

“Unacceptable Flying Objects”

April 17th, 2011 · 4 Comments

It’s time for the Ullage Group’s tenth mini-seminar!  In “Unacceptable Flying Objects,” we turn to one of our society’s most pervasive and stigmatized topics, UFOs.  We’re interested in it particularly as a cultural phenomenon, and in the social and religious impact of those pesky mandalas.  We’ll move beyond the dull ping-pong between believer and debunker, […]

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Tags: Bulletins

Children’s Card Games (134)

April 15th, 2011 · 3 Comments

The “United States Map Playing Cards,” from UniversalMAP, gives you a great deal of information about the states.  There are 50 states, and 52 cards in a deck — so you also get maps of Washington D.C. and of the world.  And the Jokers are maps of the U.S., with the suit and number of […]

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Tags: Card Games · Ephemera · Liminal Graphics

An Ullage Dozen (40): Hoot

April 12th, 2011 · 5 Comments

re-usable lottery tickets a heron eating herring the electric spoon, heated so soup won’t cool from bowl to mouth In time, you’ll find it none too wise To base your acts on other guys. a newscaster’s slip: “black market” for “Blackwater” a spork with a knife for a handle: it requires a special mitt so […]

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Tags: Education

Children’s Card Games (133)

April 8th, 2011 · 3 Comments

I found this deck with no box or instructions.  It seems to have a Western theme.  All of the other people depicted are also in jail: they include Dirty Dan, Shifty Sam, Fingers, Big Hawk, Little Lou, Black Bart, and Baby Face. (Posted by Doug Skinner.)

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Tags: Card Games · Ephemera · Liminal Graphics

The Ukulele Recital

April 4th, 2011 · 3 Comments

From the audience, Angela Alverson captured a snippet of the recital at the Jalopy Theatre.  My beginning uke class made its first public appearance with this blues chorus.  From left to right: Katherine, Rachel, teacher, Carrie, Ana, and Ashley.  They’re on their way! Another of my uke students, Robin Hoffman, keeps a blog of her […]

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Tags: Education · Music · The Ineffable · Ukulele

Children’s Card Games (132)

April 1st, 2011 · 1 Comment

“Le Jeu des Provinces de France,” from Editions Dusserre, portrayed citizens of different provinces.  In Auvergne, one goes around with a large hat, wooden shoes, and a hurdy-gurdy. (Posted by Doug Skinner.)

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Tags: Card Games · Ephemera · Liminal Graphics

L’Album primo-avrilesque

April 1st, 2011 · 2 Comments

On April 1, 1897, the remarkable French humorist Alphonse Allais published his Album primo-avrilesque.  It was a slim volume, containing seven monochromatic paintings (such as “Apoplectic cardinals picking tomatoes by the Red Sea”) and a silent funeral march (because the greatest sorrows are mute).  The march was the first silent piece, preceding similar works by […]

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Tags: Alphonse Allais · Liminal Graphics · Literature · Music