"Seeing is believing" will be leaving

In this era of CGI and photograph doctoring software, the aphorism "seeing is believing" has become just plain fallacy. When our cronies chain e-mail some incredible photograph to us, the first thing we do is press our noses up to the screen to see if there are any blur lines around the edge of whatever is "amazing" about the pic. Nine times out of nine, the jpeg is just a photoshop done by by a bored and lonely fifteen year old in the Philippines who is eagerly checking Snopes.com every day to see if he has made it to "the big time". I must have stared at that eighty pound cat e-mailed to me last year for three hours before realizing it was just a close up shot taken with a fish eye lens. Not really...it actually did weigh eighty pounds (even the picture was as heavy as a laptop). Over all, though, the constant e-deception we are bombarded with has probably helped more than it has hurt in forcing people to no longer take for granted the things which are presented as fact.

Now that I have you doubting the reality upon which your cyber world is created, I would like to present a photograph that might just blow your mind. It has been doctored in no way, nor were any strings, mirrors, smoke, or David Copperfields used in the snapping of this shot. Please, take a seat before you look, as I will hold no liability for anyone falling down as a result. I do not possess insurance for that kind of thing since the cost would be too astronomical based on the risk factor it carries.

!
\/