The Year 881 is Unclear, Ba Ba Yi

For some reason I started thinking about the year 881. Why that year, you might ask? I can't really say -- only that it came to me as a question to ponder. We know a lot about the year 81 - Rome is flourishing under Titus and Domitian - and 1881 - Kansas prohibits the sale of alcohol. Even 81 BC seems to have more information.

See! We even know what Titus looked like!  (We all know guys like that! imperiumromanum.pl)

So, do we know anything about the year 881? And why did this magical number just jump into my head? It seems the Vikings were quite the deal in 881 - wreaking havoc on Europe much like things we all witnessed in Lord of the Rings.

like this!

But, for 881, in my head I just saw castles, serfs, skirmishes, kingdoms, muck and religious zealots. There had to be something there - some event or famous person. Here's a map around that time for help

It's, of course, a myopic view of the West as being the most important part of the world in 881 (I'm sure the Chinese had sailed much of the Pacific and had gunpowder by then). This isn't a history lesson however - its more about 881. 

Digging deeper I found one direct reference to that year- "A.D. 881. Raghallach, abbot of Bangor died." in the book Monasticon Hibernicum: A History of the Abbeys, Priories, and other Religious Houses in Ireland. (Monasticon! The Comic-Con of the 800s??)

After searching around a bit more I found the gem I was looking for - Charles the Fat! What a name - crowned in 881 as emperor of the Carolingian Empire (basically the Frankish region on that map). Why that name?

I was initially excited about that name and what it might mean for something in 881 but discovered he probably wasn't fat and was only nicknamed that about 300 years later. This is the best I can do...

Charles the Fat

He seems pretty uneventful and doesn't match his nickname, so let's move on....but......one last historical note - check out this historical drawing of the vikings around that time - a bit of a image myth buster, eh?

marauding vikings

As usual I'm rambling - but, perhaps I mistook 881 as being a year (even though there were a few oddities there - I may PS this post in the future when 881 pops up somewhere....)

Interestingly, 881 is a prime number and also a "sacred angel number" according to this post. Look at what it means:

The message of the 1 and 8 combination is telling you that you are nearing the end of a significant phase of your life. Powerful changes and opportunities abound and you are in a position where you are able to command your desires. If there is some part of your life that is not flowing as you'd like, know that it will soon be healed or replaced with better things. 

Did I tune into something from the spiritual world?!? Strangely, my birthday month and day have the numbers 8 and 1 which could be a sign. Could Museum H be in for something bigger and better (preferably 881 posts)?

I will ponder this some more - but, in closing, I discovered that 881 is also used in Chinese text chatting - 8 in Mandarin is pronounced 'ba' and 1 is 'yi' - actually a bit more like 'eee'. So, saying 881 is 'ba ba yi' is a pun for 'bye-byeee'! 

 So, 881 my friends, and time for me to go watch my favorite film:

Heuristic: Natural (number)

A Site that Ripens with Time

Yes, Museum-H still exists. You can think of it as a fine wine that is sitting in the cellar getting much better with age but certainly not in a can.

Heuristic: Natural (Aging)

How Hitting a Deer Leads to Patagonia

Some days are just like this--the intent was to post a video of a cyclist hitting a deer on Facebook for a cycling friend (as you can see here):

Clearly this would have been a simple two minute task which was interrupted by someone who had a visual representation of all air traffic in the world during a day. As you watch this you'll see that there are aircraft outliers that are flying to remote parts of the world that should pique anyone's curiosity.

Post by Heart 107.3.

Pay attention to South America in this visual - you can see some aircraft heading deep into and leaving Patagonia near its southern tip, but not to the Falkland Islands:

Is there much down there? Zooming into Google Maps reveals this:

You can see there is one city - Rio Gallegos that has an airport large enough for these flights. Patagonia is mostly arid and flat - so let's drive west out of Rio Gallegos on Ruta Nacional 3 and see:

Nice road - no one there - whatever you do, don't get stranded in that you might meet this two-headed creature;

or, wear loose clothing since Wikipedia reports "It is one of the windiest cities on earth, with winds above 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph) being commonplace, and over 100 km/h (62 mph) not exceptional."

Update 9 hours later! About an hour after posting this while eating lunch I went to a meeting in which a woman put on a grey Patagonia sweater top near the end - needless to say I was a bit taken aback.

Another update: Here is travel between Rio Gallegos and Ushuaia on Route 3 (Argentina) and Routes 257 and Y9 (Chile). Ferry outlet, 110 km of gravel road on the Chilean side of the Big Island and snow in the mountains Route 3 stretch before arriving at Ushuaia.

 

Heuristic: Natural (Avoidance of strangely evolved creatures)

Don't Let a Philosopher Be Your Marketer

Ludwig Wittgenstein, when writing the predecessor to Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, spent two years in isolated in a Norwegian town of Skjolden. In fact, he really lived outside the town in a small cabin. Obviously, that time plus his time spent on the front lines in WWI created one of the greatest works in philosophy of the 20th century.

However, if you need Ludwig to write your company's slogan - I think I would hire a summer intern to help. Ok, take a good look at this company's home page and tell me what you think:

"Engineering is Man's Mind Reflected in His Civilization. MiTi's Standard is its Reflection in That Mirror".  I have to admit I've spent too much time reading that slogan over and over with no enlightenment. I keep wondering if the deep philosophical think tanks at Princeton or the University of Chicago had sabbaticals to work on this. Their other discussions during that time on the meaning of advanced foil bearings in relationship to the progression of a priori truths took most of the semester I'm sure. (Can you measure that with a tribometer?)

Heuristic: Natural (Language as Therapy)

Elixir of Youth - Philosopher's Stone on Sale!!!

Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse

NAME: Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse 
ORIGIN: Unknown Alchemist 1100-1600 AD

Drink, youth, drink, youth - spring of 1605 Francois Annibal d'Estrees, arrived at the monastic entry of the Carthusian charterhouse [3] outside of Paris holding the alchemical formula for the the 'elixir of life' otherwise known as the Philosopher's Stone.

Digestive:
The Herbal Elixir gets its unique flavor from 130 medicinal and aromatic plants and flowers. It is a cordial, a liqueur and a very effective tonic. Ingredients : alcohol, sugar, plants and flowers.Alcohol content : 71% (142° proof US) Presentation : in a small bottle, itself placed in a wooden case which protects it from the light and makes sure it keeps perfectly. Use : a few drops on a lump of sugar, straight, or in a little sugared water, as an infusion.

Francois d'Estrees
Bishop and Soldier

Francois Annibal d'Estrees - brother of King Henri IV's mistress, Bishop of Noyon 1594 to 1596 - renounced the church to be a marshal for King Henri. Source of alchemy - UNKNOWN.........

Church was source of knowledge -

Arnaud de Villeneuve (1240-1311)
Famous physician, theologian and alchemist, he was the doctor of three popes and wrote subversive and esoteric theories. He was an ingenious scientist at the origin of the liqueur ("eau de vie" or "water of life"). He deposited the results of his research at the Chartreuse Monastery of Scala Dei (Spain) in 1305.  Francois Hannibal d'Estrees gave to the Vauvert Chartreuse monks an already ancient manuscript titled "An Elixir of Long Life" - 1605

The Carthusian order was started in 1084 when St. Bruno of Cologne and six others withdrew into the French alps near Grenoble to find a place where they might serve God, remote from worldly affairs and without being burdensome to men. Bruno and his companions built their first church and residences in the Chartreuse mountain region. There the monks lived in small cells with two to a room that contained very poor furnishings. Their waking hours consisted of prayer, the labor of copying books and building their knowledge.

By 1600 the order had spread across Europe

"The Carthusians do not engage in work of a pastoral or missionary nature. Unlike most monasteries, they do not have retreatants and those who visit for a prolonged period are people who are contemplating entering the monastery. As far as possible, the monks have no contact with the outside world. Their contribution to the world is their life of prayer, which they undertake on behalf of the whole Church and the human race."

Chartreuse

The search for the Philosopher's stone was one of the most desired goals in medieval alchemy. Believed to rejuvenate the body to immortality, alchemists searched the world for this formula, something so elusive that they devoted lifetimes to their quest. For a long time, it was the most sought-after goal in Western alchemy. How Francois d'Estree stumbled into the formula is a mystery.

There are five variations:

1: Green Chartreuse 110 proof

2: Yellow Chartreuse 80 proof

3: Green Chartreuse VEP (Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé)

4: Yellow Chartreuse VEP (Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé)

5: Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse 142 proof

The elixir is not sold in America and is basically green in its original non-bottle strength form.

 $39.99 ++ immortality

Heuristic: Natural (feedback continual youth)