Comments on: Back from the Old World

By: Dren

Dren — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 11:06:34 +0000

Ah, if I only knew about your visit here! I would’ve come to say Hi and how great fan I am (we are) of yours

By: Rum and Reason » Buonanotte, Italia | Bad Astronomy

Rum and Reason » Buonanotte, Italia | Bad Astronomy — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:41:54 +0000

[...] I recognized it, but just to the left of the top of the heel is Bari, a town I spent a day in while cruising with the Center for Inquiry. CfI sponsors many cruises to help raise funds, so keep an ear open for them. The JREF does things [...]

By: Lord Kap

Lord Kap — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:26:33 +0000

Definitely a mail slot/intercom.

By: hugeholstein

hugeholstein — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:02:18 +0000

I took a picture of that exact same thing 3 years ago. Great minds think alike I guess.

By: Percinho

Percinho — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:13:37 +0000

It’s quite obviously a robot Wallace from Wallace and Grommit.

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Wed, 18 May 2011 07:55:25 +0000

… I’m a wee bit messed up.

If you’re a wee bit messed up, BA, then I hate to think what that makes *me*!

Hope you had a fun and successful trip.

@23. Acronym Jim : LOL! Planet of (the Goddess of) Love versus the City of Love. Confusion understandable, sorta.

Think I vaguely recall Isaac Asimov (or was it Arthur C. Clarke or someone else?) writing a short story where similar confusion arose of aliens coming from “the watery place” – back in the days when a popular theory of Venus held that it had a planet-wide ocean.

By: Thopter

Thopter — Wed, 18 May 2011 06:25:04 +0000

It’s Bert! As in Bert & Ernie.

By: Matiir

Matiir — Wed, 18 May 2011 00:25:09 +0000

Maybe not impressed but it does look shocked.

By: Slugsie

Slugsie — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:58:55 +0000

@Ken B – Ooooh, I’ve been quote mined! (YAY)

By: Dave Brooks

Dave Brooks — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:16:42 +0000

How to spot a geek, Step No. 42: He visits one of the world’s most beautiful cities, and the photo he’s most excited about shows a mail slot.

By: Robert S-R

Robert S-R — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:32:16 +0000

@Acronym Jim: Took me a sec. Nice one. : )

By: Acronym Jim

Acronym Jim — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:10:37 +0000

Of course the light is coming from below. I would imagine the majority of the light in this volatile place comes from below, not above. I’m just surprised the camera didn’t melt.

*Rereads post* Oh…Venice. Never mind.

By: Chad

Chad — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:59:29 +0000

Ahhh, Venciea. Funny that is exactly what I thought of when I saw your picture (prior to reading post). All of the mailboxes are a piece of art like that, I remember that one vividly, in San Polo Dist. if I remember correctly – or maybe they are just similar. I trust that I cant trust myself.

By: Ken B

Ken B — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:03:27 +0000

Slugsie:

Whilst I can accept that something light/reflective below the pic could reflect a significant amount of light up, surely it can’t reflect up more light than is coming down to begin with? I would have thought that the reflected light would simply act to reduce the normal shadows below the objects.

Obviously, you’ve never seen those fake “moon landing” pictures that NASA spent billions of dollars on, yet still messed up.

Actually, what happens when the object being photographed is in shadow, and the only source of light is reflected? (And the brightest thing around reflecting that light is below the object, such as the street itself.)

By: Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum

Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:01:48 +0000

Someone needs to add robo-arms & legs to this guy & make a meme of him.
Then send a GIF with transparency to Phil so he can use it…

By: Calli Arcale

Calli Arcale — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:38:38 +0000

What? You aren’t going to post about Dr Who? But I’m dying to hear what you thought of “The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon” and the revelation that the footage actually WAS doctored — or perhaps more accurately, Doctored.

By: Slugsie

Slugsie — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:34:31 +0000

Whilst I can accept that something light/reflective below the pic could reflect a significant amount of light up, surely it can’t reflect up more light than is coming down to begin with? I would have thought that the reflected light would simply act to reduce the normal shadows below the objects. Unless of course the object is in complete shadow from above and the only significant thing illuminating it is the reflected light from below. But the quality of light just doesn’t look right for that, it doesn’t seem diffuse enough.

There will likely be a simple explanation, but we won’t know the proper details until Phil wakes up last week.

By: DrFlimmer

DrFlimmer — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:33:12 +0000

Reminds me of a slit in a Roman church. The saga says that if you put in your hand and you have sinned, your hand will be cut off.
So, probably this one bites your hand off

By: alfaniner

alfaniner — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:01:17 +0000

It’s a Mr. Machine!

By: Dr.Sid

Dr.Sid — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:00:30 +0000

Kneeling would hardly make the light coming from bellow of the viewpoint.

By: Marco DL

Marco DL — Tue, 17 May 2011 15:59:30 +0000

@Pepijn: in Venice water doesn’t reflect light, it absorbs light. And that’s if you can call that “thing” water with all the industrial exhaust that have been pumped into the lagoon after the creation of Porto Marghera.

It could however be the reflection on the white Pietra D’Istria (Istrian stone) that constitutes the majority of the walkways in Venice. That’s why I hope that Phil didn’t do the whole walk along the Zattere (the southern hem of the old city in Venice, on the opposite side of the channel from the Giudecca island) because it’s renowned that if you do that on a sunny day from the end of april to the end of September you risk being completely burned on the side that faces the channel and icied on the other

By: Number 6

Number 6 — Tue, 17 May 2011 15:39:24 +0000

Because this photo is from Venice, an ancient city, the face’s structure and design must be another sign of visitation by ancient astronauts — (“Klaatu barada nikto”)

My source for this startling discovery: http://www.crystalinks.com/ancientastronauts.html

By: tmac57

tmac57 — Tue, 17 May 2011 15:27:19 +0000

As far as the lighting goes,I am guessing that Phil was kneeling down to take the picture (shooting slightly upward),and using a flash,as the alleyway was dark.Either that,or the alley was filled with giant glow worms.

By: Dr.Sid

Dr.Sid — Tue, 17 May 2011 15:22:25 +0000

Might be light reflecting from glossy floor ..

By: Pepijn

Pepijn — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:58:53 +0000

It’s in Venice, so the light from below may be reflected light off the water?