This is ninety nine percent- invisible, I'm roman Mars, It's the end of the year in his time for a woman stories. Episodes. Maybe if I five years ago that these episodes would become an audience favourite and we do them every single year. Might have come up with a better name than many stories, but here we are yet again, answered the girl, the brunt, many stories are banned. Craig had stories that maybe came up in our research from there so word with some cool thing. Someone told us about and we found really interesting, but it didn't quite warrant a full episode in two months of hard reporting, but their great ninety nine pm stories. Unless my favorite part, as we do that, as on scripted interviews, where I'm in the studio interviewing the people who work on the show who I like an awful lot, sometimes I know a little bit about what they're gonna talk about. Sometimes I know nothing is very fine specially for me this week we have stories about mistaken identity, unreachable.

I conic tour destinations, hunted architecture and, of course, raccoons stay with us. Sir, I'm in the studio with fitzgerald- and I'm told you have story about a park. Yes, a park in Ottawa, Canada called Jack Purcell Park em. You know the brief ordinary looking park in many ways: OPEC, apart with some grass trees, community center, but is one kind, distinctive feature I would say to the park, which is the light fixtures. So take a look at this picture. So there you look like they're about eighty dollars of posting, a want of it. Comments like like lollipops, the captain racket or somethin, like they are going to hold all that thought so back in twenty fourteen, a rapporteur for the Citizen Citizens, Matthew Pearson stumbled upon these strange, looking lights, though I was new as a city hall corresponding at the time- and I asked the the City Council

You said you should do some digging and you should go visit the city archives and look up Jack personnel, and so that's what Mattie did he went to the city archives to try to figure out who was this I'd at the park was named after because maybe that would give us some clue as to why these light look this way and pretty quickly. He learned that Jack Purcell was just kind of a regular local guy who was known around the neighborhood for fixing hockey stick slack in the fifties and sixty school, the Jack herself from the park is named, is a man who lived in Ottawa. Here's a postal worker- and he nicknamed the stick doktor, because he was any good at it and like repairing broken hockey, sticks in his basement for kids, who played you, know probably street hockey in the neighborhood in one hour the city archives. To read about him. I found out that in one This is an alone. He were amended a hundred and seventy five sticks it's funny. Maybe this is just the

air can emulate, naming a park and community center. After a lie. Because man known for generously, repairing children's hockey stick skills like so amazingly canadian. That's kind of you also sweetwater great person to honour, but I can't quite figure out how to connect the lowly pops Do you know like a riparian hockey stakes? Yeah? Doesn't it doesn't make sense but tried googling, Jack Purcell? Ok is Jack Marcel Edward on Edward Jack? Purcell was a canadian World champion Badman Player, precise The canadian National Badman champion in nineteen twenty nine nineteen thirty world champion a nineteen thirty three, even as a Chiu Ming Metro from Converse. So there badminton rockets

her badminton racket and this this is aid- is a different regime for ourselves, a different jack for so who also happens to be a comedian athlete, oh my good, but he is not the jack reseller. The park was named after I love. You have these lighting fixtures that are very lovingly designed in honour of the wrong jack pursuit of the wrong Jack Purcell Hats us end and that you were poor it that in total they cost about fifty thousand dollars. The city counselor, who you know, tipped Matthew person off this whole thing. She said to me. I think he just Google Jack personnel in the only thing that comes up is the Badminton player the Ottawa Hockey's. Help her of kids doesn't come up on. Google, I mean that's a real lesson in research week. We come across that type of thing. All the time to basically like you Wikipedia is great resource, but you know some.

They don't have entries for the kind postal carrier who you know. Repairs hockey stakes right and so the designer these lights. They admitted that that is what yeah so Matthew talk with the designers and they admitted that initially they had at least they had designed the lights in honour of badminton, Jack Personnel and and in fact, the original design called for the racket shaped, like fixtures, to be strong like real rackets, but that part of the plan was next. You know, presumably when they figured out their mistake, although you know, MRS, it gets a little sticky, Airbus, but the designers till now he did that that point. They had completely redesign delight fixtures to look like stylize trees, although I think to Matthew End, anyone looking at them, they still looks pretty suspiciously like amendment right, uncertain, Batman, racket in I don't Basically, what I'm saying- and it is- I dont think

People bought the suggestion that they were stylize trees. So backing see how they would it confused and maybe make these lights and there they are stylized another they're, pretty you knows in Athens to choose them, but like how did someone from the city, met not notice and hurray through yeah, I'm here this question too, and and Matthew that isn't isn't exactly sure about that. But I think you know the truth, the more I think about the more. I think it's totally possible that the people who commissioned the park redesign and looked at those plans. Also

no wait. Herself will become art was it says because he's a world is a world class canadian athlete radio delay I give you are if you are going to design a park after you know, like a recreation centre named after a person named Jack personnel in there happens to be a unitary famous canadian athlete nine Jaipur cell total. It hardly seems unreasonable that that would be that the what the part was named after and any no. In fact, back and twenty fourteen Matthew reported that one of Badminton Jack per cells, great granddaughters earlier several family members of Badminton Jack heard about the park and they took a visit and people on staff. There told them

that the park was named after a local man who repaired hockey six and was also a world championship had remained knowin, notably story everyone's confused in the store. Exactly that's amazing, and you know the more I talked to Matthew like I think I, when I first heard the story, I was like others idiot designers like, but the more I thought about me. It's just like. I have total sympathy like they made a mistake. At the same time, look at least they were actually and a figure out who Jack Purcell was, unlike based. The design off of this character and just seems pretty reasonable to me that community centre in part in Canada would be named after a famous canadian athlete. This famous canadian Badminton champion if the park had been named the Badminton Clare, you couldn't come up with a better lamp post light fixture. Then they do they really right, Batman, rackets. They were quite badminton rockets,

they are now they don't look like stylize trees. I think you're right to have sympathy for the designers, because the client should tell you what the significance of the person is, that their honouring and that that was added. That was there transport air. Here to me, it s a story about the way legend builds and peeping out. Like a Venus like, I love the idea that if Matthew hadn't broken this story for the Ottawa citizen, that like two hundred years in the future. There is just a truth that is there's this amazing Canadian, who is both a hockey. The commander ended and random in Zambia and any has by any of the wreck centres named after I'm throughout the city, like you know, but things like that, I'm sure happen. I'm I do not doubt it. That's amazing what a great modern day example that type of thing of like historic monument like setting people's minds as to how someone or something should be remembered. The sick doktor became the greatest Badman player in the world

because of a monument right. That's all I'm gonna shoot him from a thing. So much and thank you that's producer, and with that shit thanks to a listener named Nancy Norton who wrote in with the story of Jack Proserpine next so now talking with Chris Peru Bay, who is in Canada, actually doesnt work in Oakland. Yes, I am a trade and actually roman cold. Here I don't want. You knew this affair candidate this time of year, as this vote to this much sorrow and actually, a story for you that is about the Hollywood sign, which I think is just me taking like a vacation of the mind. If I do in a story about less Angelus written, how do you know the whole number. The Hollywood sign, like the you know how it started, work

we have to remember that it used to be Hollywood land. That's the only thing I can really recall operate. It started in the nineteen twenty it is actually a real estate, add when they built the Hollywood sign. It was supposed to get people to move into the Hollywood land neighbourhood and then over time they left it up. It sorted became this icon. Actually really fell into disrepair in the seventies, so I sent you a photo if you won't take a look at it. Oh wow, you mean really finance disrepair. There's basically, no h owe to the

almost completely down it's it's a disaster. I had no idea gotten their bad, yet it looks like a tornado actually like came through and demolished it basically, and it was just kind of rotting on the side of Mount Lee for a long time and then a bunch celebrities came together and led by Hugh Hefner. There was a huge fundraising, DR actually Hefner, save the Hollywood sign twice. It was Playboy enterprises founder, Hugh, have Euro guaranteed success bag in eighteen. Seventy eight have led the ever to rebuild the tattered Hollywood sign this time he provided the vital nine hundred thousand dollars to preserve the land to the west of it. Well say what you will if you have no right now, there's a complicated feelings about that guy. But here he is responsible for the Hollywood sign, as we know it, I would say we welcome dreamers in Addis and austrian body. Though this from around the world, can daily coming over here for generations to come. So the Hollywood sign you know, becomes an icon. Tourists come from everywhere to see it and you can kind of sea the Hollywood sign in

lot of parts of delay, if just like driving around you're gonna, be like oh there's the sign, but lots of people come to allay and they really just want to get close to it. Right, like they wanna get up close. They wanna have like a selfie with it, but the problem with the Hollywood sign as a tourist destination is that it's actually like really hard to get to her. So the Hollywood sign is on top of the mountain and the mountains in Griffith Park. So to get there, you actually have to park somewhere, and then you have to make do a whole elaborate hike up to this. I need to get like a really good, close up view of it. I see I see so you can't drive that close to it. So what are Taurus end up doing like where they parked to go their wealth for years? They actually didn't really do like an tourists would show up and away they ass people like where's, the Hollywood I know that some of you like well, you have to procure than after this whole hike and often people just give up people wouldn't come

Pierre, they wouldn't know how to get around our neighborhood. So surging Schwartz she's, an actress she's lived in the Beech Wood Canyon neighbourhood for over forty years, so her home is like right under, but the Hollywood sign- and you may be, have somebody ask you once a month? How do you get to the sign and you talk to them for twenty minutes, Jude S where they were and they tell you, bought their life and you were friendly and very hospitable to tourists because they were a rarity, but Sir James says around two thousand five. Two big things happened the changed everything. So the first was PS came round. So suddenly everybody had a map in their pocket. So if you wanted to figure out a way to get up to the Hollywood sign, you could just consult the map on your phone always had away to figure out where you were and then the second thing was the rise of articles and Youtube videos guys I'm Amber and welcome to the line that I think it makes an olive allay sounding

Are you just gotta get here. Let's go Amber seems excited. You're, going to devalue assignment seven a great day for everyday Eric. I set super early because we decided to do a sunrise hike but getting started. This is our impact. Greening of HIV survey sites they can just anywhere along this residential neighbourhood area should begun ready. Let's have it so. It's exam and their instructing people to park in a residential neighbourhood. And guess what that Sir James Neighbour, Israel head, that has being recommended is like right. Research chain lives, so just all of a sudden, like everything changed overnight in her neighbourhood groups of people may even sometimes have groups of twenty five thirty people walking in. Treat with no sidewalk a narrow street. So she said, like a lot of these. Tourists were cool, but definitely not all of them. So

People would urinate on lawns. She said at some point: someone actually hit her car and she started filming bad behaviour tourists in her neighbourhood idle film about our neighbourhood. It's only half hour long. It has been a struggle. To keep at it a half hour by hour. Hours and hours of footage, people breaking the law and gridlock streets, and whenever I put anything new in, I try to take something out. Using this video I was not actually allowed to see the video, so she doesn't posted on one I am because she's like worried about people finding out where she lives round, but I've been told it's really dramatic. They actually have all this footed set to stir Vinci's ballet the right of spring select the most dramatic music, so it's not just being in yards and suchlike. There's all that behavior, but Sarah Jane says her biggest worry has always been fires. You know she's insulin,

California, she's near a lot of dry brush and, while California was having these horrible fires, I look across the street nicely somebody smoking in front of me. So what does she done about this? So Sarah Jane, like her full. I'm occupation, Now- is being an advocate for less tourists, access to the Hollywood she wants the city to stop promoting it as a tourist destination. Many of her, neighbors were also part of this campaign, and some of them started going a little too far with equity. Me, your Bert. We did this episode about informal intervention re so like informal urbanism, like people canna taking things into their own hands, so some sardines, neighbors were doing things like painting, curbs red, indicate, there's no parking, putting up signs. That said things like there is no access to the Hollywood sign here, and I saw one that you said no tourist zones. Tourists must leave which showed free aggressive and it's not illegal sign, clearly,

absolutely not in Rome and here's the biggest once a Roman. I need you to pull out your phone right now and pull up the mapping software on your phone so type in the Hollywood sign and then ask for directions from anywhere else and allay. So like allay City Hall, Hollywood sign directions go up by the one one get off on Vermont how new and then it it brings you basically to the Griffith Observatory, that's right. So you, you probably know the Griffith Observatory, it's like a famous Ellie, landmark yes and blonde and less for the pop culture. But it's not the Hollywood sign. Yet it is a seventy five minute, walk from Hollywood, so people in the neighbourhood and the city counselor actually petition Google and lots of other mapping softwares and got

the location of the Hollywood sign changed on the maps. Alyssa Walker, whose a writer curb she wrote a whole piece in two thousand fourteen, where she found that its true of, like all the big mapping softwares, that they do not send you to the Hollywood sign. So clearly this came and was pretty effective. So, even though it it says, Hollywood sign, I see the marker for Hollywood would sign rates, letting you off in a place where you and see the Hollywood sign from the Griffith observatory, not where you could actually walk to the Hollywood sign exactly exactly any argument: is it sending tourists somewhere? That has like a view of the Hollywood sign and that's what people want rate but actually I sent you another photo if you take a look. This is a photo of the view of the Hollywood sign from the Griffith observatory. Teeny tiny gather, Ozma,

You can barely there if I don't know if this is a bad photo, or this is typical that the one I sent you is like really small. So we should do the other favorite trick with this, which is type in the directions from the Hollywood sign to the Griffiths Observatory and see what the matters. And does loops around it just says you to drive at a circle for failure, wow. That's amazing! That is better in market, but I do know I feel conflicted about this because I do understand you know it can be difficult to be there if there's lots of people there that the infrastructure wasn't there to support. A bunch of tourists and arrest the neighbourhood, but you know I'm a believer in public resources and that we should allow people to walk through places that are public land and all kinds of other things like that. So,

while exactly any mean when you think about it, a bigger level. It's a story about people trying to protect a tourist destination from tourists gray, but we're trying to send people to the wrong place. I mean like a lot of criticism of Sarah Jane and the people in this neighborhood that their being nimby, these people are really quick to say this is just an empty as and when it's not their huge food safety. He's here look. I am somewhat sympathetic because I do recognise when there's a special event in my neighborhood and cars like overrun the neighbourhood and make it more difficult to be in but this seems like this is part of being in a city their places that a month ago, and if you are in a place, that's desirable. Young people show up. So I am really torn about this, but I Think I'm gonna pro roaming. Having we were show that is our stance Ben programming in general. So what happens now so There are Jane, her side actually won a victory.

The trail had near. Her house has been closed down to close down a twenty seventeen so oh, she says: that's actually limited the number of people who come by showing sees about like thirty or fifty tourists every day now, but their people try You come up with some kind of a bigger solution, because this has been going on for at this point close to ten years Oh some of the solutions being thrown out are maybe moving the Hollywood sign to universal studios. One really made solution. That's being proposed is to put up a gondola that actually takes people off. Away unto the siren propaganda. Then that is the perfect is no contest straight. I mean it's a good solution. I think the one issue with it is people say it. My cause, two hundred million dollars to build this gondola Yo Warner Brothers said they might be interested the movie studio. I know like the pretty early planning stages right now. Oh my god seriously if you can fix the problem with the vernacular. You fix the problem

best way possible. I love that only oh god, I love it. I love it. I do not care if there's a big, our in the way or whatever it is to make that happen. That needs to happen I'm so glad we came to a happy ending is even if its hypothetical mobile given that in real life than at least at least in our minds under those perfect solution. To this whole thing, I look forward to take up the gauntlet and Hollywood sign someday the Roman our memorial gamble with a joy that would be those who make European. That's producer, dress broom, so a minister deal with any light and and tell us what kind of story. So this is actually a Christmas present for one of these,

if members here at nine API and am sure you're gonna guess who it's for when I get their hooker. So there is a famous Miss Temple in Kyoto called Kyoto in and it's been standing fur. Basically, thousand years, it's a world heritage site in so iconic that its even on the back of the ten young coin, but it's under attack by whom raccoons the attic of beauty is actually infested with raccoon someone. I know who the stories foreigners is for our own could cost. Lois Raccoon, true story. When I first paint on staff. I said that my spirit, animal was raccoons and he flipped out and sent me like tons of pictures of I think this is. This is actually a lifestyle for years now, just like the thing he takes it very seriously, so we did a story a little while ago about the green bans in Toronto and how they were made wrecking proof. So now we have a temple that they're trying to destroy yes, they're, just

like the rafters and drastic park, where their learning, how to open doors and their escalating, but I mention beauty clean off the top, but about eighty percent of the temples and Japan have suffered some form of vacuum, damage, which is huge, So aside from giving the garbage what kind of damage can reckon due to a temple, so they're they're up scratching up these ancient would pillars that have been standing since the eleventh century. They punch holes in the ceilings and they tear apart wires and lick tiles, and they just since there. Well, but the thing is the rock menace, is actually a relatively new phenomenon in Japan because up until the nineteen seventies there weren't any wild raccoons in Japan wow. That's must not that long ago, nor do in significant damage. So here's the thing you can actually pinpoint the raccoon explosion to a single cause, and that was a cartoon.

Well. Ok, I gotta know what this is about. So in nineteen, sixty three in american writer named Sterling North, Stu Memoir about his childhood called Rascal a memoir, better era on end. This took place in rural Wisconsin and he came from kind of like of frontiersmen type family, many smell on like a lot of time in the wilderness, but the book was mostly about him in his best friend, which was a sponge. A baby raccoon named rascal, and they would all sorts of things together like build canoes and like enter piloting contests, and it was you adorable Disney, actually adopted Norsemen wire into an one thousand. Eight hundred and sixty nine live action movie called Rascal, and I want to show you a quick clip of hijinx that rock over to get into

we'll go into a lot of trouble. He did he. I fur fur listeners that was the sound of Iraq who being dropped from the ceiling on tool. A woman's head, and upon the animation in Japan Simple and ridiculous premise for a movie was, as movies amount big in Japan or some no, not really actually, because in nineteen seventy seven Nippon animation in Japan adapted North's now couple his memoirs, so they actually adapted it into this adorable anime series called at I Goma, rascal, and it's so cute that I want to die alone play the titles anger, you're gonna have to cut me off, because I will let it play forever. Nobody to this end, a pub gradual field

you guys and stable boy? Ok, since we can actually see your cut you off at this point, I can listen to that's why I want to add that scientific, my look out myths of so in nineteen. Seventy seven, when this animal debut in Japan, it's a sensation, and I actually have a friend that grew up in Japan around this time, and I asked her. You know just a kind of explain to me how popular this was. Lingering can translate its leg american term since Rascal was slightly less popular than Mickey Mouse button. More popular than Spongebob does very popular. Crazy. It's really really about in its so cute, so kids loved the show, an rascal so cute that it makes raccoons look like really fun companion.

So japanese family started importing baby raccoons from North America, Japan to keep as pets in their homes and their bringing in as many as fifteen hundred raccoons a year, and I confirm the exact number of how many were imported, but this took place over with multiple years before the japanese government had to step in and Ben importation, so at least a few thousand were introduced in the country, and so I take it that some, these pet raccoons got and then made baby raccoons and then, while raccoons took over yes, but also here's a thing. So if you read the end of Sterling North's autobiography, he comes to the conclusion that Rapture These are not good pets because their wild animals and they become aggressive and only get older. They will destroy your house for sure. So, at the end of his memoirs, North decides to release rascal back into the wilderness, because it's the right thing to do and that's totally fine

him because he's in Wisconsin her life for the people in Japan also ended up releasing their pet, reconciling the wilderness, which is bad because there, an invasive species with basically no predators. So now. Destroying crops and the ruining ancient temples and cut the worst part about this is that there are endangering the japanese raccoon Doppler gang her the tanuki, because they have you, noticed food competition. So oh so it's like displacing a native species. It's that takes the place of a raccoon in Japan never heard of the tanuki. That's amazing over others of deserts cute. Certainly, when you scared animal, I mean I feel, like I've, heard other stuff like this, I'm in pop culture so like when colleagues were really big in the seventies when I was a kid because of lasting and then in the end and then after airy. Potter, like people really wanted, owls know which is not something that is an area where either, but

usually doesn't result in something being an invasive species. It just is a bad idea. Exactly Agis ends up with like more animals in shelters. Button like the thing is, I was child of the programme on generation and if people choose were a real thing and an invasive species, I would definitely be shipping peak issues in and they would destroy them

red and I would not relocate. I wouldn t you could teach so one weird part of this whole situation is that the place is being hit the hardest by you know these raccoons in this raccoon damage are these buddhist temples and trains, and there really really hard to restore, because you know their ancient buildings and monetarily replicate this kind of architecture, but the most effective way to control. You know invasive species populations is eradication and if you know anything about Buddhism, one of the core philosophies of Buddhism is that you can never harm a living creature so dislike weird tickle that buddhist monks have to be in words like do protect the temple or these raccoon species,

tough choices, corrections. Obviously, so what did they were they in doing so? There is a special PBS friend you didn't Walcott raccoons gone wild, paying future their japanese temple problem and its greatness she's, like you, should probably check it out, but a minute just play you put the conclusion that they come too These masked aliens have no natural predators here, so the Japanese, including the monks, have adopted a zero tolerance policy ever. Year in Japan. Over ten thousand raccoons are trapped, then killed. Oh so even the pacifist buddhist monks, they they're gone after the records they gonna kill the wrecking the up, and now that I think about it, a story about murders. His favorite animal fry was banging Christmas present for little guys poor.

The situation is horrible, their faults normal manner, but they know you can have invasive species can introduce and even if their cute, an important lesson. Well, thanks, oh that's My dear sir, I think some think you have one more many story about the things we build to appease the Spirit rode after this we often don't think of winter as a time of growth or creation. But if you think about it, it's the perfect time to greet your own website, because a goop dob you thinkin about being productive and now square space can help you do it with squares based into your cool ideas. You ve creative content, your services, goods, and you can turn them into a beautiful website in just a few clicks. Does it because there is to use templates,

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can't weirder more esoteric, vernacular designs that are equally interesting, but just a little bit. Stranger, yes, yeah, just a little bit different and we often talk about in a regional designs and architecture and how it cheap by weather or available materials or building codes, or things like that. But this subset of designs is culturally specific and less associated with not even try to say exactly, but let's say tangible reason. Right. So we're going about things like designs that are for warding off ghosts or appeasing spirits or no other as dealing with figures of myths and legends, and in one of my favorites is something that's quota, which window, which is a type Fenestrelle vision is mostly founded. The northeastern United States, I think I've seen

open for Martin is going to be clear with you about which windows were talking about, which is, like greens can work. You know like a flying on, broomstick witch is, and these windows are supposedly designed for them or toward them laugh re right. So these are which is playing around on broomsticks in the idea. Is that which is can't pass through these tilted windows to get into buildings When there's nothing else about this window. That says, which there just angle such a way that the aligned with the slopes of rules, rather than by straight edges of walls and floors right It's kind of hard to imagine that which is caused these. No so other other explanations as to why they might exist and and maybe the term which window was applied to them. After the fact. The other. Definitely other theories about these and many other names for them to one of those names. His coffin windows and hence of that might suggest there was. Design choice that would let caskets pass into and out of upper stories of buildings, and the other is also very simple, exe,

donations, like maybe just about guinea in more natural light, it's just a simple hack to fit in full size windows between different levels of angled rooftops where they would otherwise fit right. So, in both those explanations, we are true Get is as big a window ass possible and because there is a roof roof, a small story like a attic or something you put in a full side window at tilt, so that lined up with the slope of the roof and therefore can be the biggest windows. Suppose you can get a coffin out of it and get more light into it or anything like that or you can keep, which is our unity. And so these hopes of architectural flourishes that are meant to ward off services is not unique to the wishes of New England there All over the south- you, oh yeah, yeah Americans out. You can find, for example, blue paint ceilings of porches and that some have called Hain'T paint, and this is said by some to ward off ghost or spirits, and the idea here is that spirits will may be confused the blue for water and since they don't

Passover water, they'll, stay out or another theory. That kind of runs in parallel is that will confuse it for sky and because they can fly in the sky. They'll fly up towards it. Instead of flying into your house. I live in the south for a long time and I was always told that the blue paint on a roof was to attract mosquitoes away from you sitting on the porch and they would go up to the blue in that ceiling. Will yes others. A couple of theories that involve mosquitoes two and one. Is that essentially gathered compute, the blue for sky, like the ghosts would leap up instead of towards you

and another one. Is that essentially, because blueprint used we made with lie, which is of his caustic material, that it actually worked as an insect repellent altogether? So we just keep mosquitoes away from you and then there's like aesthetic reasons to victorian traditions of painting houses in natural colors. There's all kinds of reasons that this could have started as a tradition ring. So it's fair to say that so many stories might bees were retroactive explanations, roll them the cause they like it isn't necessarily spirits or which is, in my view, these other things. But you play this good story, folklore to amend its away, applying folklore to what is a much more practical decision. Yeah, that's absolutely fair to say, and in some cases it's really not clear, but there are cases where beliefs really do shaped design and a good example of this is found in Thailand. Another South EAST asian countries, where there are actually purpose, built structures com.

Spirit houses and the idea here is that we have tried to keep spirits out of your house. You invite them to stay in a different house altogether. You know something custom built for their needs, such as houses devoted to spirit. So they don't occupier, yeah yeah, that's it! Then they look good to live there. Recourse point night and also South EAST Asia. We ve talked about this before the dragon gates in skyscrapers. Oh yeah, they have been in those are really big and really obvious and pretty and new to basically, they look like a giant wound up in punched. A whole other way through a skyscraper and the theory behind them is that these holes, these gaps in the skyscrapers, allowed dragons to fly back and forth between the water below in the mountains above and when you think about that particular like skyscrapers, are pretty new finance

So this is really taken. This superstitions into account is a modern tradition, yeah very modern and, as a consequence, a lot of big game. Modern architects had had to contend with these belief systems when their working in Hong Kong and sort of famously the Bank of China Tower by I M Pei, cut a lot of grief for ignoring faint way, experts and GEO matters, and so when fostering partners came along and start designing, the HSBC Bank building your by they took Finch Wade Vice really seriously and so on their structure. Among other things, there these maintenance claims on top, and if you look at them, they look kind of. Like cannons pointed the I M Pei Building and they serve a practical purpose, but symbolically their meant to deflect the other building

negative energy. So there is permanently their poised to attack the other building, yeah we're evil spirits, and then they really look like it to be. You have anything if you don't think crane, you think that's like I can end up. There was a pretty Austin Texas, player or disapproval of somebody else's disregard for the spear world. Oh yeah, very much so in some of them are bout that thereby being asked dangerous and obvious. But there are a lot of these things around us that we don't necessarily even think about when we see them. So, for example, there is a tradition called topping out which has its roots in Ghana. Yeah and historically, the idea was that he'll you'd put a tree or a wreath on top of a new house or some other building, and that would appease the tree spirits. So it was like a thank you to the forest for providing the wood that was used to make the architecture I've seen these on skyscrapers, but without all the accompanying Lord they'll put a ceremonial tree at the top of the building, and- and I didn't know there is a real explanation for that

yeah and often there's not often you just going to see it in your like. Oh that's, a neat thing that you do at the end like cutting a ribbon- and that's partly was fascinating. To me about these things is that there's this back and forth between the function of the folklore, and sometimes you see one more obviously than the other, and it can be hard at times to separate the two. So gargoyles are a classic example right. They have you supernatural associations, but they're, also part of a very pragmatic, for buildings and welcome. That's too Rita. We see those everywhere and we think those are very practical for wiping out your dirty boots. But this idea of having something with.

Those on it or words on it. That wards offer welcomes people at thresholds goes back thousands of years, so it can be a real challenge in some cases. To tell what came first. The practical or the spiritual reasoning behind a particular design strategy now answer. You ve collected a bunch of these on the web right to be, can remember how you have written about these and possibilities on their cheesy check him out who internet on an idea that things could anything We will hear more many stories from the rest of the 99percentinvisible crew as the first episode of twenty slash, twenty we're going to take a little bit of time off. We hope you do too happy new year.

As of the end of twenty nineteen, ninety nine percent, invisible as a breach of Katy mingle. Her course Delaney Hall Sharif uses amid Fitzgerald Sean Rio, Joe Rosenberg Vivian lay Sophia Clatter Chris drew back and me roman moors. Your project. Many one point: seven K, L W in San Francisco produced. On radio row in beautiful, downtown, Oakland, California, Ninety nine percent invisible, is a proud member of Radio Tokyo from Pierre racks. A fiercely independent collective of the most innovative shows in all upon casting support them. All at radio hope you done is the part of the show where I tell you know at the different social channels to interact with us. But the best way you interact with us right here at the end of the year is go to where you took it out of them and donate

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