The Gloriousness of the Twizzle

/2 Comments/in /by

I’ll be honest, I totally dig the olympics, which is totally odd since I don’t ski, I live in Texas, and I’ve seen vast quantities of frozen water about three times in my life. Just the same watching the skiing is rad (Allison and I are actually toying with the idea of a ski trip next year), the snowboarding events this year were cool and the half-pipe is exceedingly groovy.

But Ok. What am I watching right now ? Ice Dancing.

Before we start leaving comments regarding my sexual orientation, let me tell you I haven’t laughed so hard at the prime-time television since Seinfeld went off the air.

First of all the announcers. Last night I was doing my thing, working on a friends website and I hear from the television in the living room:

Old man voice: “…well they are just oozing seduction.”

Former-figure-skater-turned-commentator: “I couldn’t agree more, Dick.”

Obviously, i shut the ibook, rounded the corner to see people in super-hero outfits and an ice skates being beamed to us from Italy. OMG.

Ok first, my out-raged diatribe: Of all the sports worthy of olympic competition, you’re telling me that this not only is one of them, but has been for 30 years ? (I know they’re athletes and know I couldn’t do what’ they’re doing, I’d immediately crack my skull on the ice…then again I’d like to take a few of them to Hueco and see how they fare).

Now, onto the humor. First of all the outfits are insane. As allison said of one woman’s face decorations “it looks like they Bedazzled her forehead.” Awesome. Also the guys with poofy shirts and mini capes are rad. I want a matching one for me and the dog.

Then there’s the announcers:

Former-figure-skater-turned-commentator:
“They have some fantastic Twizzles.”

Another Dick Gem:
“That’s a glorious position…”
“Well, I just love watching that…”

Now that’s humorous. Between that and the very soulful and meaningful looks the skaters give each other, I’d like to thank NBC for some quality entertainment and for reinforcing how weird the world is.

(disclaimer: I have mad respect for anyone who gets to the olympics, even in ice dancing. please read this as bitterness that I have no ice dancing cape)

Tuesday Morning Satire

/1 Comment/in /by

I love a good piece of satirical humor.

The following is a letter to the editor of a newspaper in Alexandria, Louisiana from Rev Richard Taylor:

“My wife and I have just seen ‘Brokeback Mountain’ now playing in Alexandria. I was disgusted, shocked to the core, stunned to be reminded how casually and promiscuously Americans smoked cigarettes in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This movie should be banned.

“It, like last year’s ‘Good Night and Good Luck,’ is another satanically subtle attempt to promote public acceptance of the perversion that tobacco smoking is. Wake up, America.”

Awesome.

Comics

/1 Comment/in /by

One of my all time favorite books (so far at least) is Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Chabon talks about a lot of things in the book. Homophobia, war, anti-semitism and many other evils of the past and current century. The book’s plot-lines are bridged by the golden age of comics. The author describes in great detail how an emerging medium begins to gain acceptance both at an art form and an industry.

Growing up I had access to boxes and boxes of comics my Dad had collected over the years. I would regularly climb into the 120 degree attic to rummage around for the missing issue of the original X-men series. In recent years, I’ve seen some of my old favorites fade away into mass-media-homogenized goo, that no longer appeals to me, while off the cultural radar a new set of writers and artists are once again changing the way we look at the medium.

Newspaper comics have been at dead-end for a long time, ever since Calvin and Hobbes went away, really ever since the end of the Golden Age that Chabon writes about. There’s a few hold outs that have something to say, but by-and large, it’s seemed dead for a long time.

And then there’s today. Today we have riots all over the Muslim world, sparked by a comic strip. We’ve gone from a medium that was once barely accepted as an art form to something that’s resulted in burned out embassies and Danish boycotts. (Denmark? Seriously? Your pissed at Denmark? The French published it in the first place. Of course the French would have just surrendered).

It’s a triumph for that art form that it’s being taken this seriously. It’s also a tragedy, that it was so recklessly used to depict imagery that is offensive to half the world. What was the noble goal of this piece? I’m not sure there was one other than to be sensational, to sell a few more dead trees. That’s very sad to me.

However, a Newspaper comic strip changed the world. It caused riots, deaths, diplomatic maneuverings. It had impact. Maybe this is the chance for this strangled art form to have some cultural relevance. An opportunity for those artists and writer who are changing the medium of the comic-book to step in and do something new with the strips.

Maybe they’ll realize the relevance of their work. Maybe they’ll use their powers for good, not to create sensation.