M.J. Rose

Who is the reigning king of mysteriousness and bizarre-a-tude? Why, David Lynch of course. So, who could possibly think of a more mysterious place to have a cocktail than Lynch’s very own, completely impossible to gain entrance to, nightclub?

Descending into another world … David Lynch’s Silencio nightclub. Photograph: PR

Inside David Lynch’s Paris nightclub

Inspired by the deeply strange Club Silencio in Mulholland Drive, the film director has opened a nightclub in the French capital

by Fiachra Gibbons (The Guardian)

“There were no dwarves. No dancing men. No one talked backwards – until the daquiries kicked in – and with the exception of the Japanese cowboy who turned out to be a fashion designer, no one looked all that weird.

In fact, by the time Silencio, David Lynch’s new Paris nightclub-cum-salon-cum-laboratory of the weird closed its doors at dawn on Wednesday after its first night, nothing truly bizarre had happened. Except, and it’s a big except, there was no sign whatsoever of the presiding genius himself. David Lynch was not in the building.

It’s true he could have been watching us from behind one of the smoked-glass walls, stroking a vintage Nicolas Cage hairpiece while plotting new ways to freak us out…”

For the complete article and more photos of the interior of the space, click here.

Really!

Check this out:

Superman-Strength Bacteria Produce 24-Karat Gold

At a time when the value of gold has reached an all-time high, Michigan State University researchers have discovered a bacterium’s ability to withstand incredible amounts of toxicity is key to creating 24-karat gold.

“Microbial alchemy is what we’re doing — transforming gold from something that has no value into a solid, precious metal that’s valuable,” said Kazem Kashefi, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics.

The Penance of Eleanor, painted in 1900

The Duchess and the Necromancers

By Nancy Bilyeau

“On Monday, November 19th, 1441, the people of London lined the streets to observe an act of public penance. That morning a woman, perhaps forty years of age, bare-headed, plainly dressed, was rowed in a barge to Temple Stairs off the Thames. She stepped off the barge and proceeded to walk all the way to St. Paul’s Cathedral, carrying before her a wax taper of two pounds. Once she made it to St. Paul’s, she offered the taper to the High Altar.

The woman was Eleanor Cobham, mistress-turned-wife to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, only surviving uncle to the childless Henry VI and thus the heir to the throne. The duchess had been tried and condemned for heresy and witchcraft. This was the first of three days of ordered pilgrimages to churches, showing a “meke and a demure countenance.” Afterward, she would be forced to separate from her husband and live in genteel prison for the rest of her life….”

For the rest, click here.