When I saw yesterday’s ‘Crankshaft’ I knew it would draw negative responses, and it has, as noted in Editor and Publisher; although so far they’re limited to the blogosphere.
There does seem to be an implicit reference to sexual assault in this cartoon, and I just don’t see anything about that being funny. Also, older women are prime targets for purse snatching, so the pepper spray is justified anyway. But Crankshaft is an unpleasant character, more often portrayed as pathetic than sympathetic, so I guess in that context this gag makes some sense.
I’m surprised by how little the style of this famous cartoonist changed from his college days, of which this panel is one example. Thanks to Heidi MacDonald for the tip.
When I was a kid, it bothered me that most people were more interested in the ads in comic books than in the stories. Most of what was sold was junk, of course — the notorious X-Ray Specs for example — but once in a while a legitimately interesting product was offered. So, in acknowledgment of that, here’s an ad from a 1967 Marvel comic book. It’s the Digi-Comp 1!
If not exactly the first home computer, the Digi-Comp 1 was a working binary counting machine. Here’s a Digi-Comp 1 in action, counting from 0 to 7 in binary. It’s even done twice, in case you miss it the first time. 😉
Exciting, huh? But compared to the comic book ad the Digi-Comp 1 must have been a disappointment. First, there’s nothing electronic about it, and the atomic symbol would seem to imply it’s nuclear in some way. But at least the Digi-Comp 1 is described accurately as being a “mechanical analog of a binary computer.”
I hope the person who wrote the ad copy didn’t use a Digi-Comp 1 to figure out the price, because it’s listed first at $4.99, then in the coupon at $4.98. Oh well, they didn’t claim “down to the penny precision!”
The Digi-Comp 1 has, as you might expect, something of a cult following. Original units are often auctioned in eBay, and there is a replica of it available at Minds on Toys.
Last year I talked about an exhibit I saw called Bodyworlds 2. (Note: the item at that link includes an audio clip of the late Paul Sullivan on his Boston radio show. Sullivan was much more sanguine than I about Bodyworlds 2.)
I had ambivalent feelings about it, and after reading this article in The New York Times, I stopped being ambivalent. I think it’s an old-fashioned freak show.
Even if Bodyworlds, as Gunther von Hagens claims, presents only the bodies of people who gave their consent, the ‘Bodies’ show that Stephen Colbert highlighted uses unclaimed Chinese corpses; presumably including prisoners, political or otherwise.
The ‘Bodies’ show is about to open literally around the corner from where I work in Framingham, Massachusetts, but not without protest. There’s one lone voice speaking out against Bodies. The Metrowest Daily News has the story at this link. If the link is dead, click here. In keeping with the latest trend in journalism, the reporter posted a video on YouTube. Sort of blurs the line between print and TV media, doesn’t it?
I think this TV commercial is obviously intended to get people into the holiday shopping mood.
[flv:/Video/OCT07/VisaAd.flv 400 300]
The second thing I noticed about this commercial is that it’s a full minute long, which is relatively rare these days. The reason it deserves to be a 60-second spot is the first thing I noticed — the music, which I recognized immediately. It’s by Danny Elfman, from this…
[flv:/Video/OCT07/PeeWeeBigAdventure.flv 400 300] Tech note: The buzz in the TV commercial is from Comedy Central. Not my fault.
