A Pookah is a Solitary Spirit
In case you've just googled Pookah because you hadn't a clue what I was on about, you've probably come across Robert Anton WIlson on at least one of the hits on page one.
I read lots of Robert Anton Wilson's writings as I grew up, and he mentioned the Pookah when he told of one of the many synchronicities that amazed him when he set about writing the Illuminatii Trilogy. The Pookah he knew of was the giant six-foot rabbit called Harvey in the film with Jimmy Stewart.
I have a Pookah of my own, a black-and-white cat called Winnie. I jokingly used to call her "Winnie the Puke" because of her propensity for regurgitating dried cat food whenever she was forced to eat it, but one day I realised that her mischievous behaviour qualified her to be a Pookah, and the new name "Winnie the Pookah" didn't offend as many people as the first one had..
Pookahs are still around, even now in the age of technology. A friend of mine likes to use the analogy of a 500 pound gorilla whenever he is making a tricky point. His Pookah is the unarguable facts that we normal people find ourselves up against time and time again. We accept things as they are, or, more correctly, as we think they are. In fact, most of the time we are wrong, it's just the Pookah loves to see us making twats of ourselves.
Talking of twats, there's an example of Pookahs on TV at the moment. QI has the concept of an "Elephant in the Room", which it uses as a means of allowing sharp-witted people to get a few more points, as Jo Brand did the other night. (As an aside, the quest on QI who has most impressed me is Johnny Vegas, and the guest who has least impressed me is Vic Reeves. Make of that what you will). An Elephant in the Room is another type of Pookah, which causes confusion amongst humans, mainly for its own amusement, as it watches them argue over what it is or isn't.
Most people know Harvey, the giant six-foot rabbit, as the best example of a Pookah. Pookahs are amazingly adaptive, migrating from books into plays and then to the screen, appearing on TV, and now even emerging into the digital age. There's at least one in Second Life. I was wandering around there the other night with a friend. I got lost in the sky and when she pulled me back down to where she was, it was to announce that she had found a giant demonic rabbit. And so she had. It wasn't a very active Pookah, though, it just sat there and enjoyed the puzzlement it caused to passers-by.
Pookahs can be like buses, one after the other in a chain of surprises. A few days after meeting the one in Second Life I was over in the stores sorting through the cardboard boxes and bags of cuddly toys, trying to make space for my latest attempt to stay alive and solvent; growing exotic mushrooms. As I picked up a large off-white cuddly rabbit I heard faint music, and put it down in shock. The music ceased. I picked up the rabbit again and began to move down the cluttered aisle, and there came a faint chime. I stopped, it ceased. I moved, it chimed.
Feeling around the rabbit (pervert that I am), I found a strange bulge just above its tail. A key. I turned it, and the chimes began a tune.
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star..."
I shall have to sell it, though. When I got it home to show Little Petal, Winnie the Pookah took offense to it. It would seem that Pookahs wll not brook competition, and Winnie was there first. So the Large Chiming Rabbit is going to be put on ebid as soon as I can remember how to log in.
And I might Youtube it as well so you can all share and enjoy. Remember to check back here for updates.
I read lots of Robert Anton Wilson's writings as I grew up, and he mentioned the Pookah when he told of one of the many synchronicities that amazed him when he set about writing the Illuminatii Trilogy. The Pookah he knew of was the giant six-foot rabbit called Harvey in the film with Jimmy Stewart.
I have a Pookah of my own, a black-and-white cat called Winnie. I jokingly used to call her "Winnie the Puke" because of her propensity for regurgitating dried cat food whenever she was forced to eat it, but one day I realised that her mischievous behaviour qualified her to be a Pookah, and the new name "Winnie the Pookah" didn't offend as many people as the first one had..
Pookahs are still around, even now in the age of technology. A friend of mine likes to use the analogy of a 500 pound gorilla whenever he is making a tricky point. His Pookah is the unarguable facts that we normal people find ourselves up against time and time again. We accept things as they are, or, more correctly, as we think they are. In fact, most of the time we are wrong, it's just the Pookah loves to see us making twats of ourselves.
Talking of twats, there's an example of Pookahs on TV at the moment. QI has the concept of an "Elephant in the Room", which it uses as a means of allowing sharp-witted people to get a few more points, as Jo Brand did the other night. (As an aside, the quest on QI who has most impressed me is Johnny Vegas, and the guest who has least impressed me is Vic Reeves. Make of that what you will). An Elephant in the Room is another type of Pookah, which causes confusion amongst humans, mainly for its own amusement, as it watches them argue over what it is or isn't.
Most people know Harvey, the giant six-foot rabbit, as the best example of a Pookah. Pookahs are amazingly adaptive, migrating from books into plays and then to the screen, appearing on TV, and now even emerging into the digital age. There's at least one in Second Life. I was wandering around there the other night with a friend. I got lost in the sky and when she pulled me back down to where she was, it was to announce that she had found a giant demonic rabbit. And so she had. It wasn't a very active Pookah, though, it just sat there and enjoyed the puzzlement it caused to passers-by.
Pookahs can be like buses, one after the other in a chain of surprises. A few days after meeting the one in Second Life I was over in the stores sorting through the cardboard boxes and bags of cuddly toys, trying to make space for my latest attempt to stay alive and solvent; growing exotic mushrooms. As I picked up a large off-white cuddly rabbit I heard faint music, and put it down in shock. The music ceased. I picked up the rabbit again and began to move down the cluttered aisle, and there came a faint chime. I stopped, it ceased. I moved, it chimed.
Feeling around the rabbit (pervert that I am), I found a strange bulge just above its tail. A key. I turned it, and the chimes began a tune.
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star..."
I shall have to sell it, though. When I got it home to show Little Petal, Winnie the Pookah took offense to it. It would seem that Pookahs wll not brook competition, and Winnie was there first. So the Large Chiming Rabbit is going to be put on ebid as soon as I can remember how to log in.
And I might Youtube it as well so you can all share and enjoy. Remember to check back here for updates.
posted by Sopwith-Camel | 4:38 pm
2 Comments:
Sell Winnie, keep the bunny.
Grin.
No way. The worst thing you can do is to annoy a pookah, it would be less damaging to go round the house smashing every mirror in the place.
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