For whom the bell tolls
Every day I drive past the Carroll Chimes Bell Tower. (I didn’t know that was its name until a few minutes ago when I looked it up.) I’d noticed the doors and balcony on the front of it and asked my co-workers if they opened. I was answered with a resounding, “No, they’re painted on.” Yet today I took my lunch in the park near the tower and when the chimes rang for noon I heard talking begin. Walking over to the tower I walked over saw a row of mice scampering out one door and in another. Apparently every hour the bells chime and the mechanical figures move onto the balcony to act out the 13th century story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Oddly enough I’ve been in the mood for fairy tales lately. I’ve just finished reading Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales
Of course, this re-ignites my obsession with automatons and clocks. There’s a beautiful clock in Brussels but nothing quite like the mechanical figures my imagination conjures. I guess it’s time to learn how to really work brass.
Another photo and a video of the Carroll Chimes Bell Tower in action after the jump.
Video of the clock in action:
The clock I fanboy over is the Prague Astronomical Clock. I’d so love to have a pocket watch of that.
I took an awesome fairy tale course about a year ago now, I couldn’t think of a better class to have on sunday mornings. Ironically I had the same professor that semester for a course about the apocalypse.
Now I want to read all my books from the class again.
That is an awesome looking clock. The Long Now orrery is another one I love.