Monday, April 7, 2014

Comics, Satire and the Decline of Western Civilization


Before the days of single issue, one frame memes, there were comics! Comics, where the real questions
existence, the eternal struggle of the nature of duality and other awkward problems can be presented in a user friendly, safe (no one will judge you) format. You will be gently coaxed into understanding problems for which really smart* people have all the answers, so the rest of us need not trouble our pretty little heads. And how little trouble it is indeed for our pretty little heads. Thank goodness too, I am concerned with the preservation of my P.L.H.
Also don't forget Mad Magazine, and it's contribution to society-raising an entire generation who understands satire! In case you haven't noticed there are some folks who are painfully satire deficient. They can be recognized by their outraged responses to Onion and Borowitz report articles. Look out for them. If you meet one, immediately apply Mad Magazine to the face. You'll be doing us all a favor. It's not their fault that their parents were humorless comic-deniers. They deserve a shot at understanding humor, don't you think?
Another relevant tool that is available for anyone who is concerned about their lack of cultural knowledge, is the Classics Comics series. While these are lengthy, far more so than the 2-6 frame comic strip, the additional effort is worth your own personal development. If you can't get through the entire classic, fear not, there is a good chance that as long as the classic made it into movie or tv form, Mad Magazine will likely have parodied it at some point in time. Can't make it through Moby Dick? Mad offers Morbid Dick. You'll get the general gist of the story and you too can feel smart and cultured. Yay!

Some links:

http://www.madmagazine.com/
http://existentialcomics.com/comic/23
http://io9.com/all-of-shakespeares-plays-converted-to-3-panel-webcom-1559458973?fb_action_ids=693304114042166&fb_action_types=og.likes

Once you have completed this list, you may now safely refer to the Onion, Borowitz and other satirists secure in knowing that you will get the joke! Now get reading!

2014, Nanakoosa's Place/Adventures of a Flower Child

Thursday, February 20, 2014

The Flower Child Legacy?

Sometimes I wonder if at some not yet revealed time,  a time with not yet established cultural rules and mores, if someone somewhere might encounter my journals, or my blogs posts or anything else I have written.
I wonder what they will think of it. What will they do with it? Will it arouse curiosity about the day to day life of a woman in the 20th and early 21st century? Will they toss it aside as useless clutter, or will they open a page, interact with a statement or paragraph and maybe they will slip it into a pocket of whatever futuristic gear they are wearing.
Beyond that the finder may forget about the book stashed n their pocket until while searching in frustration for a cigarette (or some other equivalent addiction) will grab the book, give it a puzzled or annoyed look before tossing it aside.
Or maybe they will scurry home and by the privacy of whatever light source illuminates the pages, she or he sits cross-legged on a bed, munching absentmindedly at a sandwich (or whatever manner of food source they eat in the future) and devouring my words.
"It's so retro" she'll say, bright eyes shining with persuasion and guile. Her listener will eventually, or quickly, relent and agree to read it as well.
Suddenly I'm an iconic voice from the past, an Anne Frank or Victor Frankl, only with much less severe tragedy.
How will my hardships, my 'tragedy', rate in their era? Will they be living in a militarily controlled world plagued by bloodthirsty gangs running wild in the streets? Will there be water shortages, power blackouts and curfews? Or will we finally learn to live together, to respect one another. If we cannot at least respect and accept each other will we have devised a way to maintain separate
living spaces, each with their own rules in effect so long as no one group encroaches upon or violates the safety and integrity of another group or tribe.
Either way, will anyone out there feel drawn in,  and connected to, the personal story of a  20th century woman who was always just a little different than all the other kids.
artwork courtesy of Elly Hazard