Word of the Day

Phantasmagoria (n)
(1) a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination;
(2) a constantly changing medley of real or imagined images (as in a dream);
(3) an optical illusion produced by a magic lantern or the like in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other, dissolve, etc.

Got a nice ring to it, dunnit? Phantasmagoriaaahhh..

Believe it or not, the word came to my attention thanks to Marilyn Manson. Apparently it is the name of a fantasy/horror film that he made about Lewis Carroll and the (allegedly) mad and erotic visions that inspired double-entendre stories like Alice in Wonderland. Except the film doesn't exist on Netflix and I couldn't find any genuine studio-released trailers of it on You Tube either. I don't think it was ever released commercially, might have been a web-only thing. I suppose it must be that disturbing.

Oh well. I'd be curious to see it someday, if I could ever get my hands on it. The man is odd, certainly, but I wonder if he's just on that fine line between genius and insanity. Although someone who, in all seriousness, claims that his ideal way to die would be by (and I quote) "being eaten by the one I love", clearly has issues.

So why was I suddenly wading into the deep and dark waters of scary goth metal stuff? It all started innocently enough.

I was reading a great New York Times article about how Jon Stewart is the most trusted news-anchor in America.. then, I felt compelled to re-watch the video of him ripping Tucker Carlson apart on Crossfire (classic).. and then I saw a link to a Marilyn Manson on the O'Reilly Factor which I could not resist watching. It was quite interesting, so then I spent the next hour looking up info on Monsieur Manson, a.k.a. Reverend of the Church of Satan, a.k.a... umm.. Brian Hugh Warner. Yeah. I know. I was disappointed too. *sigh*

Anyway. That doesn't diminish the value of phantasmagoria. Now I just need to work it into a conversation and watch people get impressed.