10. mai 2003

The 25 greatest American comic book covers Here is a great collection of American comic book covers. The site proclaims this collection the 25 best of all times, and I will not argue against them being all-time greats.  These covers are also a time machine; the cover art reflect its time with its fashions, prejudices and fears. All did superbly the job they were designed for: selling comic books. Also have a look at the rejects; the 12 dumbest covers they could find. 10:17:27 PM    comment []

...and throw away the key James Kopp was found guilty in the 1998 murder of Dr Barnett Slepian, an obstetrician and gynaecologist who performed abortions, and sentenced to 25 years to life. Kopp was unreprentant, and said he would do it again. What Kopp did was terrorism, a politically and religiously motivated murder. But I don't expect militant anti-abortion activists to turn up in Guantanamo any time soon. 10:09:00 PM    comment []

Funniest blonde joke ever! Don't miss it! 9:21:50 PM    comment []

Bold new initiative from Bush Bush has announced his bold new plan for a lasting peace in the middle east. His plan includes the idea of a free trade area in the region, where states are introduced into the global economy as they adopt greater freedoms, the rule of law and a crackdown on terrorism. The timing of this initiative is important. The US has demonstrated its military capacity and willingness to use it in Iraq. After the stick, follows the carrot. If the Arab states in the region can see a way to improve their prosperity, they may start to abandon the double plague of religious extremism and corrupt leadership. The countries in the region will be unlikely to welcome this initiative with open arms, but neither do I think they will reject it. It will be resented as a solution brought from the outside, but there, as elsewhere, money talks. Is it a good plan? Can it succeed? At least it is a plan, and somebody with power seems committed to seeing it implemented. If anything, the plan seems to be breathtakingly ambitious and optimistic. The key still seems to be finding some way out of the deadlocked conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. And in that case, the question is whether Bush is willing to squeeze the necessary concessions out of Ariel Sharon, a process that could risk irritating the mighty pro-Israel lobby in the US. Bush is unlikely to really lose the votes of the Christian right, as much as they complain and bluster about him right now. For them, the alternative is worse. But 90% of American Jews are already voting for the Democrats, and they may be an extremely crucial part of the electorate in the 2004 elections. With so many powerful groups domestically and in the Middle East opposed to any concessions to their enemies, Bush, for all the political capital he possesses right now, may not ultimately be willing to force his own peace plan being implemented. Yet, more and more, he does come across as a leader with real international visions and commitment to them. Even his critics are now tempted to hold their tongues. Perhaps this plan is just crazy enough to work, not to bring total peace and prosperity to the region, but at least to get it on the right track to slow, painful improvement. 7:29:00 AM    comment []

Massive timewaster It's weekend and all, so have a look at Addictive Games for a good collection of web-based games that may idle away some hours. 6:24:32 AM    comment []

It's all in the timing The Met in New York is having an exhibition of artifacts from some of the first cities in history, 5000 years ago. Brilliantly timed, much of the exhibit is about the Mesopotamian civilisations, that is, Iraq. 5:25:27 AM    comment []

Historian: Bin Laden dead after amputation French historian and arabist Ghislaine Alleaume thinks that Bin Laden was injured at Tora Bora in December 2001, and that he died after an amputation of his left arm. She says the video broadcast by al Jazeera on December 27, 2001 shows that his arm was missing, and also claims some other evidence supporting the claim the world's most wanted man is really dead. 4:44:32 AM    comment []

Monkeys business with typewriters and Shakespeare If you have an infinite amount of monkeys hammering away at typewriters for an infinite time, sooner or later you will get Shakespeare's complete works. It follows logically from the law of large numbers, but is hardly very useful for any real life situations. So, what do you get if you are under budget and time constrains, and allow six macaque monkeys (picture) four weeks to produce their master works on a computer? The results of this trial at Paignton zoo in Devon were more Mothercare than Macbeth. The macaques - Elmo, Gum, Heather, Holly, Mistletoe and Rowan - produced just five pages of text between them, primarily filled with the letter S. Now, before you go ranting about how scientists waste the taxpayers' money on silly projects, it should be noted it was a project sponsored by the Art Council. The Secular Blasphemer is more a science & literature than a fine arts guy, so I will not attempt to give any opinions on the artistic merits of five pages with the letter S. "It was a hopeless failure in terms of science but that's not really the point," said Geoff Cox, of Plymouth University's MediaLab, who designed the test. So what were the academics trying to achieve? "It wasn't actually an experiment as such, it was more like a little performance," said Mr Cox. This is an extremely strong application for an Ig Nobel prize, if I ever saw one. 2:13:20 AM    comment []

Stripped again I am always looking for new comic talent, and luckily the home front is flourishing with them. The leader of the pack is local comic god Frode Øverli who does the brilliant Pondus, but he's not alone. One recent example brought to my attention is Morten B. Helland's Stripped Again. A recent Norwegian language sample was printed in Pondus. You can find all those, and quite a few more raunchy ones, on this web site in English versions. Stripped Again also falls into the category of urban humour, which means there are a lot of gags about drinking and especially dating. Have a look! 1:05:32 AM    comment []

Batman has moved to English town The bad guys tremble with fear and the law abiding citizens sleep safely in the town of Tunbridge Wells near London, as a caped and masked superhero has been keeping watch over the streets. In a number of mentions in the local press, the caped man is reported to have scared off the bad guys and averted crimes. In one incident, the hero gallantly returned a woman's purse after scaring away the bad guys. She says, "If only there were more people around with this kind-hearted spirit." Thanks to Rob at Emphasis Added for informing me about this case of life imitating comic books. 12:18:12 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.06.2003; 03:29:42.