Psychedelic cats

When I was young, I remember reading the Time-Life series on science. One of the books discussed the mind and had examples of all sorts of psychedelic-esque and schizoid things that could happen to human perceptions of reality. As a young boy, it really had a profound effect on me, especially in that it made me realize that the world that I was seeing through my own eyes did not necessary reflect what the rest of the world was seeing. I know that that sounds kooky, but this understanding probably stuck with me during the times that I was purposely trying to push the boundaries of my perceptions of reality through my youthful chemical experimentations (which I do not necessarily condone, but since I did them, they are a part of me).

Well, one of the parts of the Time-Life book that I vividly remember showed the longterm effects of schizophrenia, through the strange progression in the style of pictures produced by a certain illustrator, Louis Wain. An artist obsessed with cats, his paintings became increasingly abstract, to the point that they had little resemblance to cats at all. Why this scared and fascinated me as a youth, who can say? But, having recently rediscovered this artist and his work, I figured that I would put them on my blog, as I enjoy looking at wild and wacky stuff. So, if I ever start writing history papers that begin referencing the voices in my head, it might be time for me to get on the antipsychotic meds. Maybe I should have a betting pool for when this will actually happen! Any takers?

As I was considering how Wain's cats became very kaleidoscopic in nature, that reminded me of two great bands from the sixties, one from the US and one from the UK. Both were named Kaleidoscope, and although both produced psychedelic music, the US band used lots of exotic instruments in their songs, while the UK band was light and poppy. You should check them out! If I can figure it out, I will put some up on the blog...