Day 110
Location 19: Belgrade, Serbia
Feb. 18, 2023
In the 2006 Oscar-nominated film The Prestige, a magician strives to find the world's best trick. In his pursuit of illusionistic perfection, he asks Nikola Tesla (portrayed by David Bowie) to invent a cloning device. The duo clones countless black top hats to test the machine built by Tesla (reminder: I'm referring to the real-life genius inventor Nikola Tesla, not the company owned by the thrice-divorced, insecure tech-phony, father to X AE A-XII Musk).
Anyway, today I visited the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade and saw up close a black top hat owned and worn by the real Nikola Tesla. Naturally, it reminded me of the scene from the movie. The museum employees didn't answer if this was an original or the result of cloning, but did warn that they'd ask me to leave for asking so many times.
Left: Top Hat Worn By Tesla | Middle: Suit Worn By Tesla | Right: Top Hat Cloning Scene from The Prestige
David Bowie, who portrayed Nikola Tesla in The Prestige, is now dead (just like the real Tesla)—another example of life imitating art. Like the top hat earlier, the museum also had a display relevant to this filmic overlap with reality: the late inventor's real ashes encased in an ominous gold sphere. The museum employees didn't answer my question asking if they had any of Bowie's ashes, and once again threatened to ask me to leave.
For my last night, I went out with friends I'd made on a walking tour. With no plan, we followed a spotlight that shone the sky. It was like the Batman signal, but instead of summoning vigilantes to fight off ice-men, clowns, and penguins, it's for travelers who want to enjoy a drink on ice, act like a clown, and end up on their stomach like a penguin. And looking at the night through that lens, I'd say we saved the city.
Two of these photos are me with a local guy. One of them loved discussing the NBA. The other was super shy.