Hi Frank, These grim reaper sundials are very common around the world. The grim reaper theme is one of a many mottos that allude to our mortality, impending death and final judgement. I have seen the theme expressed in many languages around the world. The translation to the modern vernacular is "Life Sucks, and Then You Die!". This is seen more on bumper stickers than sundials.
Have another look at the garden shop dial to see if it passes the following checks. -Does the gnomon start at the intersection of the line between the six o'clock marks. -Are the 6 o'clock lines perpendicular to axis of the gnomon? -Is the gnomon angle equal to your latitude? -Do the hour marks go around counter clockwise as they should for a horizontal dial in the southern hemisphere? My bet is that the garden variety grim reaper dial will be pretty close to passing on the first three checks and fail on the last point. A lot of dials in the southern hemisphere seem to carry the northern hemisphere markings in spite of the sun being to the north rather than the south. It must have something to do with the mounting. The feet are backwards. Roger Bailey Walking Shadow Designs N 51 W 115 Where a horizontal dial designed for Melbourne would work pretty well as a south facing vertical dial. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Frank Di Marzio Sent: May 9, 2002 2:42 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Pseudo sundials >While on a vacation trip recently, I came upon a store selling the >two dials shown in the attached picture. >Of course, both dials are seriously flawed in design--more suitable >for garden ornaments than for sundials. Hi Mac and others, There was a nursery selling similar badly flawed sundials in Melbourne, Australia. But to add insult to injury, their sundial faces were embossed with a large image of the grim reaper. Charming! I'm sure they're going to sell like hot cakes! Frank - -
