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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Ceci n’est pas une pipe

Ceci n’est pas une pipe

by Tom Levenson|  July 13, 201110:32 am| 24 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Apropos of even less than usual, I was just walking down the street one day, when I came across this message:


So, with a h/t to M. Magritte, and a deep felt need for just a touch of the inconsequential absurd — to wash away all the absurdity with teeth our politics offers us these days — let’s enjoy a surreal open thread.

Oh — and a PS:  I find it oddly perfect that the Kabbalah center on whose side this notice appeared vanished very shortly after I took this pic.

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Reader Interactions

24Comments

  1. 1.

    Ben Cisco

    July 13, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Looks like Legal Insurrection borrowed McArdle’s calculator: http://bit.ly/rceLSJ

  2. 2.

    Xenocrates

    July 13, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Meh, needs a large green apple and a Homburg.

  3. 3.

    gbear

    July 13, 2011 at 10:37 am

    So what is an occasional table the rest of the time?

  4. 4.

    Punchy

    July 13, 2011 at 10:43 am

    Wait….whats the sign? Is the sign the sign? Or is the sign just announcing that, indeed, it’s a sign? Sigh…n

  5. 5.

    Culture of Truth

    July 13, 2011 at 10:48 am

    Bah, homburg

  6. 6.

    Villago Delenda Est

    July 13, 2011 at 10:49 am

    Sign sign everywhere a sign
    Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
    Do this don’t do that can’t you read the sign?

  7. 7.

    4tehlulz

    July 13, 2011 at 10:51 am

    SIGN SIGN EVERYWHERE A SIGN

  8. 8.

    nancydarling

    July 13, 2011 at 10:55 am

    Thermoses keep things hot or cold. How does it know?

  9. 9.

    JGabriel

    July 13, 2011 at 10:55 am

    Tom Levenson @ Top:

    I find it oddly perfect that the Kabbalah center on whose side this notice appeared vanished very shortly after I took this pic.

    Ceci n’est pas une sign?

    .

  10. 10.

    Comrade Dread

    July 13, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Kabbalah is nice and all, but if you want to be eaten first, I suggest you join the Cthulunitarians.

  11. 11.

    The Tim Channel

    July 13, 2011 at 11:07 am

    The sign immediately brought this clip to mind. The word for today is deepity.

    Enjoy.

  12. 12.

    LGRooney

    July 13, 2011 at 11:07 am

    Since giving up on religion more than 20 years ago, I don’t really keep track. I know Madonna was into it and then several other celebrities got on the train. But, what is Kabbalah?

  13. 13.

    DFH no.6

    July 13, 2011 at 11:23 am

    I’m with brother Comrade Dread.

    Ph’nglui mglw’nath Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn

    It’s in the Necronomicon, people!

  14. 14.

    Tom Levenson

    July 13, 2011 at 11:24 am

    @LGRooney at 12: Kaballah is usually referred to as a Jewish form of mysticism. The Wikipedia entry is actually a pretty good summary/starting point if you get interested in its quite rich history.

  15. 15.

    Paul in KY

    July 13, 2011 at 11:25 am

    LGRooney, I think it is Sufism for Jews or something like that ;-)

    P.S. for anyone who missed me, I was on a great 2 week beach vacation. Hope everyone had a fine 4th/Bastille day, etc.

  16. 16.

    Citizen_X

    July 13, 2011 at 11:37 am

    First there is a mountain
    then there is no mountain
    then there is

  17. 17.

    Jon H

    July 13, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    “But, what is Kabbalah?”

    A money-spinning bullshit enterprise that is centered on telling women how awesome they are and selling crap like ‘magic water’ and red threads with huge markup.

    Which is not to say women aren’t awesome. But I think in this case it’s a calculated bit of flattery to attract membership.

  18. 18.

    Devilham

    July 13, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    Brookline no? Looks like it’s going to be a sushi joint soon (my wife works in Coolidge Corner)

  19. 19.

    Tom Levenson

    July 13, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    @Devilham at 18: Brookline, yes. Just round the corner from the Peets, I think. It should be at least the fourth sushi place in the ‘hood, I think.

  20. 20.

    JGabriel

    July 13, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    LGRooney:

    But, what is Kabbalah?

    A mystic branch of Judaism. Roughly, Kabbalah is to Judaism as Sufism is to Islam.

    I wish I could come up with a similar analogy for Christianity. It’s not that there aren’t Christian mystics, it’s just that mysticism is already so deeply embedded in the Catholic and Orthodox rituals, that there’s little need of a separate well-known sect to accommodate Christian mystics.

    .

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    July 13, 2011 at 12:56 pm

    @17.Jon H – July 13, 2011 | 12:22 pm · Link

    “But, what is Kabbalah?”
    __
    A money-spinning bullshit enterprise that is centered on telling women how awesome they are and selling crap like ‘magic water’ and red threads with huge markup.
    __
    Which is not to say women aren’t awesome. But I think in this case it’s a calculated bit of flattery to attract membership.

    The sole reason I know it exists is Madonna–“Yay, I’m Jewish![squeal]”–which simultaneously tells me everything I could possibly need to know about kabbalah.

    Ergo, Sully must love it too.

  22. 22.

    Klaus

    July 13, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    Just… how quickly did the center vanish? Was it just gone when you looked again?

  23. 23.

    Batocchio

    July 13, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    Hilarious. Thanks, Tom.

  24. 24.

    Banzai Bunny

    July 13, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    …and now Motorino by the Rheostatics will be in my head all day.

    It’s a sign it’s a sign it’s a sign it’s a sign

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