Epic Win: Lava Lamps
Submitted by Sal O
Long ago, in a land far, far away, there was a magical place called Patchouli Paradise. In this land there was a heavy haze, sometimes so thick that it would blot out the sun. Contrary to what you might think, instead of causing dreariness amongst the residents of Patchouli Paradise, it caused great merriment and mirth.
The people would run to and fro, dancing and singing and wasting away their days with plentiful snacks and conversation about trivial things.
From this place came a great magical lamp, much more powerful than any genies lamp. When the sun went down, the people of Patchouli Paradise would turn to their Lava Lamps for illumination and it would provide for them thousands of hours of joy and happiness and inspiration.
The land of Patchouli Paradise was stomped out by an evil, scowling old man who chased the people from their paradise into a cold, hard world of slavery and bondage.
Only a few relics remain from the mythical land of Patchouli Paradise and one of those relics is the Lava Lamp. Unfortunately, the descendants of the people from Patchouli Paradise are restricted to tight quarters amongst “places of higher learning”, where they’re taught not to think, but only to retain information and commands, and to react to certain situations appropriately.
Sometimes deep in the night, with the guidance of the Lava Lamp the descendants of Patchouli Paradise are visited by the haze from their homelands and given the joy and merriment of their parents. However, these descendants must hide the haze by shoving towels under doors and spraying deodorizers, because even though the evil old man perished from the land long ago, his minions still prowl searching for them so that they may crush the Lava Lamps and drain the descendants of their power.
FIRST !
The male budgerigar uses the blue spots on its face, which actually glow ultraviolet to other budgies, to attract a mate. The ‘healthier’ the glow, the healthier the male probably is.
Epic win!
I’ve got four of those. Three smaller ones, and a big one. The big one is purple and yellow, and the other are white and green or white and blue! The were all purchased in about 1999, so that’s not really a huge Past thing, but it’s still cool. The first time I saw one, it was my cousin’s, from Way back in the day!
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I have one in my room. It sat up on my shelf for years without being used. I dusted it off a few weeks ago and now I use it all the time. So awesome.
I have one in my room as a light I keep on at night so I don’t kill myself while trying to get to the bathroom in the dark (I’m quite the klutz). Also, I have my kids that sometimes come into our bed at night for whatever reason (can’t sleep, bad dream, etc) and it helps for them to get to us without getting scared and worked up. Works great and it’s not so bright you can’t sleep. My kids even have one as a nightlight in their bedroom. Lava lamps are the best!
just keep it out of reach if they’re still as hot as they used to be. Got burned by one once.
still have a neon pink one going strong….18 years, still awesome.
write-up Epic Win!
The write-up is nearly better then the thing itself!
I was thinking the same thing! Epic Win to the Writer!
I couldn’t agree more!
These were so cool when they were originally introduced in the ’70s
The bases were brass and had tiny pinholes in them for effect and to let heat escape
The image posted here is a reproduction
Likely less than 10 years old
Not really worthy for an “epic” win
My mom had one of those, and now I have it! I LOVE this one and cringe when I see the newer ones. Don’t get me wrong, both are still pretty to look at, but I think the base makes it what it is!
Win for the lava lamp, EPIC win for the write up.
WTF?
The whole point is to appreciate the slowly changing forms (focuses the haze).
Now its trying to focus the ADHD generation! Opposite of cool.
ikr!
so basically the write up is about smoking weed…..hence the towels and deoderizer…EPIC WIN!!!!!
epic win and epic win description. incedentaly i have the one on the far right, the green one.
And I have one on my iPhone. Not as good as the original but pretty darn good mindlessness…
Oh, wow, I am *so* stoned right now!
So I’m giggling at the description and I can’t stop! This is EPIC WIN (and some EPIC WEED!)
lava lamps to me = psycho housemate who never left her room = EPIC FAIL.
Seems to me if you have a psycho housemate, it might be a plus that she never left her room.
SGI wired a big collection of lava lamps to sensors and used them to create a giant random number generator. I think it is not random, just chaos.
True true. There’s no such thing as random, at least nothing that our feeble human minds can comprehend. Huzzah chaos!
Hawt ^^
I know my uncle still has a few from “back in the day.”
I’ve got an older one that i picked up from an estate sale about 10 years ago.. i LOVE it!! and I’m agreeing with several others.. that write-up is EPIC-Win!!
I know some geoscientists who use these to illustrate convection. Way cooler than talking about a pot of water on a stove.
Dirty, dirty pot smoking hippies.
And proud of it!!!!!
Yeah, the write up is EPIC for sure! 100 points for creativity!
Yep, still using mine… Keep them on timers. Beside the hearth, in the bath, on the bureau. I don’t like walking into a dark room, and don’t like the bland nitelights that everyone uses.
The purple on the bedroom is relaxing: I stare at it and never fail to doze off.
And, oh yeah, they do get HOT!
Not if you modify an existing one to use LEDs! Mine doesn’t burn me anymore thanks to that fact.
Oh, how I miss my lava lamp. Why did it have to short out!? WHY!?
I have a red one in my room. I got it for my 6th birthday. =)