Which Do You See?

Fun with Ambiguous Illusions Ahead

From time to time I get a kick out of looking at those classical optical illusions that seem to be popping up a lot on Facebook these days.  These are known as ambiguous illusions, designed to elicit a perpetual switch in the brain between two alternative interpretations of what it's supposed to be.  

As if I'm not indecisive enough!

The classic above is actually called "My Wife or My Mother-in-Law" and goes back to the 1800's, which is apparently as far back as psychologists have been attempting to unsettle us to generate fees. Which did you see first - the young girl or the old lady? Naturally I saw the oldster. And I think she was winking at me too ... 

  

Anyway I thought it might be fun to take a look at a few of these ambiguous illusions today because people seem to be using them to majorly rack up the 'likes' on Facebook, and without even having to write a corresponding joke to go along with them!

Which Do You See?

A Frog or a Horse

Almost everyone sees the frog first, which you'd think would cause the frog to feel somewhat happier than he seems in the picture.  The horse is highly elusive and takes more time to find, but trust me, he's right in front of you. You'll feel ridiculous when you finally see him two or three hours from now. Remember to eat. 

Here's a hint which ought to help you out: It's not a talking horse!  Hope I haven't spoiled the fun.

Which Do You See?

A Vase or Two Alfred Hitchcocks?

This illusion is called "Rubin's Vase" after the Danish psychologist who developed it. Those who see Mr. Hitchcock are said to be such fans of the Master of Suspense they either support Mr. Hitchcock harassing Tippi Hedren or have harassed Ms. Hedren themselves. If you see the vase, you're misidentifying it as a goblet and you're a big drinker. 

Dr. Rubin wrote the following about his famous illusion: 

One can then state as a fundamental principle: When two fields have a common border, and one is seen as figure and the other as ground, the immediate perceptual experience is characterized by a shaping effect which emerges from the common border of the fields and which operates only on one field or operates more strongly on one than on the other.

All of which proves that you can create a world famous illusion and still not be much fun at parties.

Which Do You See?

A Duck or a Rabbit

Enough with the animals already! Statistically speaking, about 50% of the population sees the duck first and 50% sees the rabbit.  (I hope that adds up; math never my strong suit.) Actually this is one ambiguous illusion where I see both figures simultaneously,  a bizarre and ghastly half-duck half-rabbit creature right before my eyes!
  
I haven't slept nights since.

Finally, below is the most devilishly perplexing of all the ambiguous illusions I've ever seen:  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Which Do You See?

 A Recumbent Female Nude or

  General Curtis E. LeMay, 

Former Head of the United States Strategic Air Command?

I know. It's killing me too.  I simply cannot find General LeMay. 

According to the experts, over 50% of the population will not see General LeMay because they are not looking for him.

But not me.  I'm going to stare at this ambiguous illusion all night if that's what it takes to find the good general! 

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Note:  For those who plan to spend the weekend looking for General LeMay, the ambiguous illusion above is bogus.  He ain't really there.
But you knew that. 

The Portal

I don't want to brag,  but I've spent the past week hanging with two very important persons.  

The great Alfred Hitchcock was kind enough to make a special appearance in my blog post There's Always a Hitch, his presence therein affording me with a terrific opportunity nobody else can ever lay claim to:  I  got to direct Hitchcock. And know what?  

As an actor,  Alfred Hitchcock should be treated like cattle!

Next I spent some time helping Pope Benedict get ready for his upcoming Twitter debut in The Pope's Tweets. True, the pontiff never directed a hit movie,  but he's got a bit of clout as well and now thanks to me he can spell "WOOT" in 17 different languages!

My entry in the Friday Fictioneers is below, based on the picture prompt above. Thanks as always to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, both Director and Pope to this enterprise, who has  never yet treated any of us like cattle no matter how much we might sometimes deserve it.

The Portal

When the announcement was made, he had been the first to volunteer to walk though the paneled hallway and into the glowing portal that would lead to another time and place. 

It would not be just any time and place, however. Irrefutable calculations had proven that  the portal would take him to the most pivotal event in the history of humankind.  It could not possibly do other. 

Knowing there would be no return as well as he knew he had nothing to return for,  he reached the portal and calmly walked through the glowing light that framed it.

He heard a voice.   It could have been of any time or place,  of any language or person,  or of any nation or peoples of the world.   Yet he understood.   

"Congratulations to us all," said the voice. 

"It is a girl ...."

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Note:  After reading and responding to the comments below, I made a small change to this piece.

There's Always a Hitch

It was an unusually warm but otherwise quite typical day in early December.  

That new movie about Alfred Hitchcock had just opened and as he was one of my favorite directors I put on a pair of slacks and a button down shirt and headed out the door for a pleasant afternoon at the movies. 

Two men in dark gray suits quickly walked up beside me.

"Come with us, Mr. Kaplan."

"What is this about?" I said. "I'm not your Mr. Kaplan."

The two men flung me into the back seat of the car and sped away. Before long, though, I noticed the rear car door was open, made a lunge for it, and tumbled out onto the roadside.

"Mr. Kaplan, don't you want us to take you to Sid's Mufflers to pick up your car?" said one of the men. "It's a free service."

"You moron," said the other, "I told you his name is Mr. Block, not Mr. Kaplan. What, you think all Jews look alike?"

I tumbled onto a corn field and there up above was a crop dusting plane headed right at me, firing real live bullets.  I ran for my life! 

"Don't kill me, I'm not from the EPA!"  I shouted.  "Please, use all the pesticides you like!"

"Sorry, buddy, not shooting at you," the pilot hollered back, "we find rapid machine gun fire the best way to get rid of aphids."

I flung myself onto a passing train and as I stood up in the section between two cars, a nattily dressed middle aged man approached me.

"Hello, Charlie," he said.

"My name isn't Charlie."

"I call everyone Charlie. You can call me Charlie."

Charlie then lunged at my throat!

"Charlie, why are you choking me?! By your count, there are at least seven billion other Charlies you could be choking! "

"I'm not choking you, Charlie, I'm straightening your collar!  Have you  just been chased through a corn field by a machine gun firing crop duster or something?"

I fell off the train into the middle of a busy city street.  

"Scottie, I let you change me because I love you," said an enigmatic blonde woman in a gray tailored suit. 

"But... but ... I'm not Scot... " I stammered.

A black terrier ran in front of us and headed off towards a nearby tower.

"I walk you every morning at 6:00 AM now, Scottie, and I used to be a night person!" 

Exhausted and with my leg hurting, I checked into the nearest hotel where  through a big picture window I could see all the hotel guests in the atrium. A burly gray haired man with glasses stared up at me with an air of ignorance and contempt almost as though I were a vagina and he a member of the Republican Party.

In a moment he was at the door, entering my hotel room!

"What do you want of me?"

In terror, I fell backwards into a chair, my injured leg extending straight before me.

"What do you want of me?"  he repeated. "I'm an Amway Distributor;  want any cleanser, detergent.  Need Amway's knock off of Depends?"

As I wasn't interested, he left and I went to take a shower to relax.  As the warm water cascaded pleasantly about me,  I  saw a dark shadow appear through the shower curtain. The curtain parted and there was a man dressed as a woman brandishing a long sharp knife!

"Forgot to tell you I also sell this 6-in-1 paring knife. Great for salads.  Dressed up like a women to show you how much the chicks love it!"

Throwing on pants and shirt, I ran out of the hotel. Up ahead was the theater where  Hitchcock was playing.  If only I could make it there, everything would be all right!

Then something pelted me on the head.  Then I was hit again.  Soon I was being pelted again and again all over my body!

Frankly, however, this happens to me every day. 

As I reached the theater,  I grabbed hold of the back of a gentleman standing by the door and implored him to see me safely into the confines of the humble destination I had so innocently sought such a seemingly long time ago.   

"Good Evening," 

he turned around and said. 

"Mr. Hitchcock!  What is this all about?"

"Knowing  you wanted to see this movie, Mr. Block, I thought you might appreciate the full Hitchcock experience."

"But, sir, you've put me though the most chilling parts of  just about every great movie you ever made:  North by Northwest, Shadow of a Doubt, Vertigo,  Rear Window,  Psycho, and The Birds.

"Not exactly.  From what I know of you, Mr. Block,  I had to leave one out." 

"Which was it? Lifeboat? Notorious? Dial M for Murder?"

"No, not one of those."

"Which one then?"

"The Man Who Knew Too Much."

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On second thought, maybe I will take some cleanser.