Feb 08 2006

Cartoonist Lynn Johnston on Muslim Cartoon Violence

Universal Press Syndicate: News Release

Curiously, her stance seems to be that the press should practice self-censorship and that if it doesn’t do this properly it should be held responsible for any resulting reaction. Says Johnston:

I believe these cartoons have a right to exist. The media does not have the right to use them callously in the name of freedom. Freedom for whom? If one innocent person dies because of this capricious incident, publishers must accept the blame.

It’s kind of a nice arrangement, because it shifts any potential blame away from (a) cartoonists and (b) from the individuals actually doing violent acts.

So, if—theoretically, of course—someone were reading some lame newspaper cartoon which’s storylines were so “ABC Afterschool Special’-like and so saccharin as to be offensive to the sensibilities of any individual with taste… and he/she became enraged as a result, and were to violently attack all Canadians (let’s say this hypothetical cartoonist is from Canada) in retaliation, the entity that should—according to Johnston—be held responsible would be the newspaper and/or syndicate that published the strip in question?

Again, this is of course just a theoretical scenario, but it’s a curious result…

Feb 07 2006

Gay Stuff

I was reading a feature on cnn.com on “Brokeback Mountain” jokes today which referrenced a Late Night top ten list…so I went to the LateNight site to find the whole list. The list itself wasn’t particularly funny—probably because there’re so many “Brokeback” jokes making the rounds these days–but what was funny were these other lists that turned up for the search term “gay”:

Top Ten Slogans For The New Gay Soda

10. “Mm, mm, Gay!”
9. “More fun than a marriage to Liza Minnelli”
8. “None of the aftertaste, all of the gayness”
7. “Just one calorie–one really, really gay calorie”
6. “Makes your 7 go up”
5. “Gayer than Fresca”
4. “In regular, diet or Siegfried”
3. “We’re Dr. Pepper’s longtime companion”
2. “Bottoms up!”
1. “Buy it in the bottle, get it in the can”

Top Ten Slogans For The New Gay Beer

10. For guys who don’t like Busch.
9. Cold as a mountain stream, gay as a picnic basket!
8. For all the gay stuff you do, this beer’s for you.
7. Made with the finest gay hops and barley.
6. Toss one back, and while you’re at it have a beer.
5. The perfect drink for spending the afternoon watching “Trading Spaces” with the guys.
4. Come out of the closet and head for the mountains.
3. Wreck your liver and your marriage!
2. Drink until you can see “straight”.
1. The Queen of beers.

Feb 07 2006

Airships Making a Comeback?

I’ve obviously got a thing about ariships. Maybe it’s because I hate flying on planes so much that I long for the days when one could travel by air in a civilized and comfortable fashion. Looks like if one wants to do any ariship travelling any time in the new future, joining the military is the best option:

Lockheed Martin’s Secretly Built Airship Makes First Flight

The Walrus: the US Army contemplates building an aircraft the size of a football field

Walrus
(Click for larger image)

Feb 01 2006

NEWSARAMA – NEW SPIDER-MAN COSTUME REVEALED??

NEWSARAMA – NEW SPIDER-MAN COSTUME REVEALED??

Marvel comics’ current slogan is “The House of Ideas.” In light of this recent possible development, I’d like to once again suggest that the name should officially be changed to “The House of Bad Ideas.”

Worst costume ever
(Click for larger image)

Be careful…those calves could give you a nasty laceration!

Jan 27 2006

Winter’s Here

I personally only move into a true winter mindset after the first sighting of my dog, Sheila, roosting/roasting on top of the crackhouse’s largest furnace vent:

Sheila Vent
(Click for larger image)