Thursday, December 3, 2009

Victorian Ring of Woven Hair

I don't remember where I picked up this ring, but it is made out of woven human hair. I feel certain it is Victorian because the buckle was a very standard motif at the time and is made of rose gold.


I attempted to sell this to a hair jewelry vendor, but was told rings don't sell particularly well. In that case, I will keep it! Such a strange item, I think I got it at a flea market or some such.

Victorian Hair Sentimentality



The Victorian Era was a particularly sentimental time period with some customs that seem very strange to us now. For instance, hair was often used to preserve memories. One custom that has survived yet to this day is saving a clipping of hair in a jewelry locket or saving the hair from a baby's first haircut.

A custom that does not survive until this day are things like the above picture, which is woven entirely of human hair. Yes, somebody spun the hair into this intricate design! The Victorian artwork can be seen in Denver at Four Mile Historic Park.

I don't know why, but many people find this morose. I do know that much cherished hair WAS from deceased people, but not necessarily. For the deceased, there was a lot of jewelry for instance that had the words "Forget Me Not" inscribed. I personally don't find any of that offensive.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009


Here is a man with a legacy whilst still alive, Bill Gates

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Rememories as per "The Final Cut"

I watched an interesting movie this weekend, "Final Cut" with Robin Williams. Do not read further if you want to see this movie and don't like having details revealed in advance of your viewing!

Very interesting idea to have one's entire life recorded with an implanted device in the brain so that a "rememory" session can follow your death with audio/video footage recorded in the device. Those charged with splicing together the most salient (and least objectionable? most politically correct?) are known as "cutters". One key question in this movie is what happens when illegal activity is detected upon playing the recording. Apparently, this is up to the cutter's descretion which is usually dictated by the wishes of their survivors.

So, one in twenty people had their parents spend money to implant the device upon birth of their children. Wild idea, huh? Now this is the kind of science fiction I like because there are no gross or stupid and unbelievable beasts gorging on people's flesh!

Anyway, continuing with the plot,  in funerals the life footage is replayed for those attending. Graveyards also feature these "rememories" which is set up to play on TVs for visitors. A "cutter" could effectively rewrite history if the person was of sufficient import, huh? Ah well, I am overanalyzing as usual. 'Nuff said!