ARE YOU IN YOUR “RIGHT” MIND? (Or, “HAVE YOU SEEN THIS ONE?”)

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Laurel: “Shakespeare.”
Hardy: “Longfellow.”
Laurel: “What goes up the chimney?”
Hardy: “Smoke. What comes down?”
Laurel: “Santy Claus. ...Have you seen this one?...”

You’re confused already, aren’t ya? I could tell by that blank look on your face.

That bit o' dialogue comes from a 1936 Laurel & Hardy movie called ‘Our Relations’. The drinking gang I used to hang with – The League Of Soul Crusaders – we loved all the old Laurel & Hardy movies (although W.C. Fields was really the house hero!)

Laurel & Hardy, W.C. Fields, Deputy Dog Dawg cartoons, Mickey’s Big Mouth malt liquor, and the “Come On, Eileen” music video – those are the things that kept us alive throughout 1982.

Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners (HQ Audio)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXLHUThBib8

In ‘Our Relations’, Laurel & Hardy would go through that “Shakespeare/Longfellow” dialogue exchange every time they would find themselves saying the same thing at the same time. The “Have you seen this one?” bit at the end is actually the pay-off joke that comes later in the movie. But I’m not going to explain it to ya because none of that has anything at all to do with this blog bit!

A couple years ago, my friend The Flying Aardvark sent me this picture of a rotating woman. It came from TheTelegraph.com.au website. [See below]

According to that site, this rotating woman is a . . .

RIGHT BRAIN VS. LEFT BRAIN TEST

Here’s what they say about it:

Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain.

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS:
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

If counter-clockwise, then you use more of the left side of the brain.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS:
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality-based
forms strategies
practical
safe

Most of us would see the dancer turning counter-clockwise, though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

I can’t even remember anymore which direction I first saw the woman rotating in. But I do recall that in a minute or so, I saw that she had reversed herself and was suddenly spinning in the opposite direction.

Within a few minutes I found that I could mentally manipulate her and make her turn in either direction I chose. Then it became a game for me to see how quickly I could reverse her direction.

I got to the point where I could (and still can) make her reverse her direction before she’s able to make a full revolution. I like to make her swing her forward leg back and forth, back and forth. But the question is, of course, which leg is forward, the right one or the left one? It depends upon which direction the mind sees her turning, doesn’t it?

What’s really fun is to read all the comments people have left on the TheTelegraph.com.au website about this. Some people swear the woman rotates in only one direction; others swear she reverses her direction every couple of minutes; and some are certain the whole thing is rigged in some way.

It’s not rigged; she’s not changing her direction from time to time. She really can be seen to revolve both clockwise and counter-clockwise. Or even, as I said, not revolving at all, but merely swinging her forward leg back and forth.

I’m not sure that I’m buying any of the Right Brain/Left Brain explanation for how a person views the image moving. All I can state for certain is that this woman has a pretty nice body . . .



With you in no dress
Oh, my thoughts, I confess
Verge on dirty
Ah, come on, Eileen!

So, how do you see her moving? Clockwise? Counter-clockwise? Both at different times? Jus’ swingin’ her front leg back and forth?

~ Stephen T. McCarthy

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