look in the mirror

Ponder the mirror. If never discovered, consider the freak fest it would be seeing for the first time a reversed image of oneself staring back. For some, it could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. A good example would be Narcissus - while drinking from a stream, he became so entranced by his own reflection that he eventually died of thirst, afraid of touching the water for fear damaging his reflection. And let's not forget about our animal friends - experiments have shown that Asian elephants, chimpanzees, dolphins, magpies, orangutans, pigs and llamas are able to use a mirror to study themselves.

If a surface is smooth enough, specular reflection can form an image. The earliest manufactured mirrors have been dated to around 6000 BC and were pieces of polished stone such as obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass.

During the early Renaissance, European manufacturers developed a method of coating glass with a tin-mercury amalgam. In the 16th century, Venice became a mirror production center using this technique. Glass mirrors from this period were extremely expensive luxuries.

German chemist Justus von Liebig invented the silvered-glass mirror in 1835. The process deposited a thin layer of metallic silver onto glass through the chemical reduction of silver nitrate. The method was adapted for mass manufacturing and led to more affordable mirrors. Nowadays, mirrors are mostly produced by the vacuum deposition of aluminum or silver directly onto the glass base.

In the distant past, people thought a shadow or reflection was part of their essence. If someone broke something onto which the shadow or reflection of a person appeared, it was believed their soul was harmed - this is why breaking a mirror was considered unlucky, bringing bad luck for seven years, the time it took for a "cracked" soul to heal. It could be undone by burying the shards of glass while underneath moonlight.

Now, some tunes to help put you in a reflective mood. If not, better take a good look in the mirror.

"Looking at yourself through the media is like looking at one of those rippled mirrors in an amusement park." - Edmund S. Muskie

"Mirrors are ice which do not melt: what melts are those who admire themselves in them." - Paul Morand

"The mirror reflects all objects without being sullied" - Confucius

"Ten different mirrors show you ten different faces." - Shashi Deshpande

"Men look at themselves in mirrors. Women look for themselves." - Elissa Melamed

"Mirrors should reflect a little before throwing back images" - Jean Cocteau

"The best mirror is an old friend." - Peter Nivio Zarlenga

Duck Soup: Mirror

Diana Ross & the Supremes: Reflections - 4MB

The English Beat: Mirror In The Bathroom - 5MB

Jimi Hendrix: Room Full Of Mirrors - 5MB

Leon Russell: Magic Mirror - 12MB

Love and Rockets: Mirror People '88 - 6MB

Hawkwind: Mirror Of Illusion - 11MB

The Arcade Fire: Black Mirror - 6MB

Elvis Costello: A Deep Dark Truthful Mirror - 6MB

The Human League: Mirror Man - 6MB