The Transparent Sphere

Celestial Machination:


"A missionary of the Middle Ages even tells us that, in one of his voyages in search of the terrestrial paradise, he reached the horizon where the earth and the heavens met, and that he discovered a certain point where they were not joined together, and where, by stooping, he passed under the roof of the heavens.... And yet this vault has, in fact, no real existence!" - Camille Flammarion (1888)


Heaven:



The Cybersphere (2000):


- "Users who enter this spherical system—which represents a new approach to VR visualization—can walk, run, jump, or crawl in any direction, while at the same time being able to observe an all-encompassing virtual environment. In this article we describe where the Cybersphere fits in the world of virtual reality interfaces, and discuss ways it can be applied to a cross-sectional audience, ranging from simple component visualization to highly complex military simulations."

- "The relative position of each layer is offset to enable rigidity. Sandblasting (with a suitably fine medium) the inner surface of the polycarbonate layer solved the
problem of preparing the polycarbonate surface for back-projection of images.
This technique also eliminated the potential problem of internal reflections
within the sphere."

- "An observation window, immediately above the access
door, is also incorporated into the structure. A raised platform on one side of the
sphere support structure provides a means of entry into the projection sphere.
Motorized support pads are incorporated into the support structure design to
provide additional support for the projection sphere plus occupant when the air
supply is turned off."

from Cybersphere: the fully immersive spherical projection system (PDF)

SONY BONO / BONITO SONIC

possible scheme for a bi-layered cover:

Anim-gif: LINK HERE

Dupont Down Under

"...That got me thinking about one of DC's more notorious abandoned subway structures - aka Dupont Down Under. Below Dupont Circle, but above the Dupont Metro Station is the old Dupont Circle Subway Station. It was built in 1949 to reduce the impact of the old trolley system on Dupont Circle traffic. In 1962 the station was closed when the trolley system was shut down. In 1995 it opened as a food court called "Dupont Down Under" but closed in September of 1996. Back in 2003 there were rumblings that the site might reopen, but I never heard what happened with that." from http://washcycle.typepad.com/

The Lost Ship of Mojave

A 17th century Spanish galleon, full of pearls, locked in the sand by tidal bores and lost beneath what would become the Salton Sea. So the legend goes. Ghost forms of Berserking Commandos from Israel's Lost Tribe, Native ancestors of the Torres Martinez Band, a few heads of Japanese salt miners, American WWII pilots, and the two Rebel Masons; these will comprise Mojave's pirate fleet when it sails again on the Sea of Meat with only pearls as its cannon shot to overtake the Mother Fuckers in a coalition with the Poets, the Big Mermaid, Exviiideao, and Bonito Sonic. Link: http://www.desertusa.com/mag03/may/ship.html

"Divers Examine Wreck of Plane in Salton Sea"

More from Jason. It's no Howard Hughes crash landing into Beverly Hills in his X-F11 Spy Plane, but it'll do.

Link: Navy records, which are fragmentary, indicate that four Wildcats, two Corsairs, two Hellcats, four patrol planes, two Helldivers and 10 Avengers crashed into the Salton Sea.

THAT KINDA DIE-OFF'S NO COINCIDENCE. AFTER A FEW CRASHED IN, THE AIR FORCE GOT A BIG IDEA: THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD STORE THOSE PLANES PACKED IN MEAT, PRESERVED BY A SALINITY HIGHER THAN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. LITTLE DID THEY REALIZE THAT THE DUST DON'T FIX RUST, AND THOSE PLANES WERE NEVER COMING BACK IN ONE PIECE.

1944-45: B-29s from the U.S. Army’s 393rd Heavy Bombardment Squadron, commanded by Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets, make regular but highly secret practice flights from Wendover Air Base in Utah and drop dummies of a new bomb into the Salton Sea. from http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/histchron.htm

"The Imperial Valley in 1904"

An Account by Hugo de Vries

bioluminescence

one part of the poem is going to be a rendering of the bioluminescent flora and fauna in the aphotic Salton Sea, once it is turned to pure meat by the Mother Fuckers. the Big Mermaid is their Queen, and rides round the sea in her triad of lead spheres with laser auras cutting paths in the shit. my friend Christina Eeena told me that lampreys lit up under water, and not only cuz they have lamp in their name, but she corrected that to anglerfish and that's how i got into reading up on bioluminous fish for the poem. here's some inspiration, thanks to mon amigito Jason Grovito:



http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/206