@ liphttam1

Well beyond the merely aesthetic there are a number of points:

1. There have been a lot of visitors to Another Place but no facilities. This has left certain areas looking like... well just imagine the aftermath of some hippy festival. As well as the "vase" there will be a visitor centre with tea shop, toilets and an exhibition space.

2. The "vase" will be the Mersey Observatory - considerably taller than the current radar tower (it'll be 150m high) so it will provide excellent views down the Mersey, south over the city, north up the beach, west to the mountains of Wales and a prime spot for viewing the vessels using the navigable channel.

3. The walkway between the two runs on and extends out over the river which should provide an excellent view of all the ships.

At the moment the public isn't allowed out onto the promontory that the old radar station sits on and just below it is an excellent bird habitat which is a popular stopping off point for migratory birds. The dock authorities will make all this area open to the public and the Observatory is the centrepiece of this.

This is just part of the local improvements which are themselves part of the broader redevelopment of the Mersey Basin - standing at the entrance to the Basin it is clearly a key part of this.

It is a pity it isn't coming sooner because part of the 2008 European City of Culture celebration there will be a massive light show called the River of Light and the existing tower will be used to house lights and lasers. I'm not sure what the long term plans are but the "vase" would also make an excellent base for this.

So basically it is part of improving the shabby facilities, providing an attraction itself, acts as a symbol for arriving ships and a key part of the wider redevelopments.

It is a great story (even without the guide) and so we'll keep an eye out for any news and post a follow-up at some point.

Good point. I have updated the post to include a link.

The thing that really disappoints me about the whole ancient astronaut angle is that it fails to give our ancestors any credit for their amazing achievements.

Great to hear - I love Miike and the Weird West so have been looking forward to this since the trailers came out. Good to hear it delivers!!

I did say "more level-headed" ;)

I'm pretty sure he doesn't think 911 was some elaborate inside job, for example, and has written a number of articles critical of the wilder fringes of conspiracism.

It is one of the reasons I'm intrigued to see this is the subject of his talk, which makes me wonder if:

a) He has some new killer piece of evidence - I am doubtful as I love Kirby and wacky conspiracy theories so I'm sure I'd have heard something.

b) He is playing it for laughs - which seems a lot of effort.

c) Or he is looking at it from the other direction - not that Kirby was given some kind of weird inside information but that Kirby's work and others have been a big influence on Hoagland's claims.

I'm hoping for c) as the influence of sci-fi on shaping the UFO phenomena is a topic I'm interested in and it could provide some interesting insights (and it seems more in line with Kenn Thomas' take on things). After all even people I know who think the Face on Mars may have some mileage still (more recent images actually make a better case - even if I'm still not convinced), think Hoagland is a little... out there (and not the "out there" where Mulder thinks "The Truth" lies, either).

So I will be keeping an eye on developments with interest.

I can:

* Raise both eyebrows independently and a popular pub trick was making them dance
* Touch my nose with my tongue

I also used to be adhesive/magnetic (another pub trick - stopped when I quite the booze, you do the math) and can do a simple version of the regurgitating trick that Stevie Starr has developed into a mighty fine stage act.

I've had a nose around this and it really looks closer to an urban legend than reality:

http://www.wunderkabinett.co.uk/damndata/index.php?/archives/1226-Did-twins-really-get-married.html

As has been said this seems more like a lesson in the way media work (and why we should be suspicious of them) than a story about unfortunate twins.

I think it worked nicely. Junji Ito manages to combine vertigo and claustrophobia which is an unsettling combination.

I find it interesting that people think the last page is unnecessary as I thought the sequence on page 26 (and the end of 25). The last page worked well, as did the first dream, but the second one possibly provides too much of a hint about the ending - I'd have preferred it to be more misdirection because once you see the oddly shaped holes on the penultimate page it rather spoils the final panel. Also "It's slowly coming this way" rather spoils the sense of imminent dread, as you'd expect a reply like, "well I suppose we should think about getting away in the next day or so!!" That said they are minor niggles in an effective tale.

Those looking for more should read Uzumaki (and watch the film as it works well too) and Gyo. Info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junji_Ito

I followed this up and dug out various bits of folklore about spirits and the like with backwards feet (I think you can click on my name for the link) and also found this video of John Seavers - one of only 5 people with backwards feet in the US and the only one who can walk without help. However, not only can he walk but he is a dancer too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DX6AHeJOQM

King Froto III of Denmark was said to have been gored to death by a were-cow.

Here is the link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/23/eamobula123.xml

"Doggie Disaster Movies #4: The Day the Moon Fell"

"The latest Hubble photos: A giant moon rises over the Dog Star"

"Beatrix, if you embarrass me again in front of Professor Stephen Hawking, with your wild quantum field theories, then I believe I will not be able to remain civil"