Japanese Prime Minister complains that he no longer has time to read comic books: "
‘It’s hard to read comic books as my time is now restricted.’ -- Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso
My heart truly goes out to him.
Link (Via Comics Journal)
Previously on Boing Boing:
• Japan's badass new prime minister
(Via Boing Boing.)
Halloween: 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set: "
Reviewed by Dan Mancini
Quote: 'Halloween is one of the great horror movies of the '70s (a decade that brought us The Exorcist, Jaws, and Alien, among many others). But Halloween: 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set isn't the best way to get your hands on Carpenter's classic.'
(Via DVD Verdict.)
Artist Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic OBEY/OBAMA image we've seen so much during the current presidential campaign, writes:
mad history (obeygiant.com, thanks Sean 'kappa hunter' Bonner!)
Check out this link to a plethora of parodies of my Obama HOPE poster. I’m very happy that the HOPE poster has become such a point of reference. One parody that is not included is something I consider a high point in my career for pop culture recognition. Mad Magazine’s new cover is a spoof of my Obama image. I loved Mad as a kid. I think Mad’s satire heightened my understanding of irony and hypocrisy. I’m very excited to be a part of Mad’s history.
(Via Boing Boing.)
James Howard Kunstler on economic meltdown: "The thin silver lining in James Howard Kunstler's dark thundercloud of doom is that Americans will once again get to work 'making things, growing things, and rebuilding things'
If the financial system completes its self-destruction -- and that's looking more and more like a real possibility -- there will be several pretty awful consequences. One is that the United States will be forced to declare bankruptcy by repudiating its own debt. All those who took refuge in US Treasury bonds and bills will be like folks who sought shelter from a tornado in their out-house. That would go hand-in-hand with a massive currency inflation that is likely to follow the current phase of compressive liquidating deflation -- in which every possible asset is being sold off for less than its face value. That process is self-limiting due to the finite supply of real salable assets. The trillions of dollars injected into system while this is happening must eventually snap-back as people shed the last fungible article and compete for necessary commodities like food and fuel with dollars that are suddenly plentiful but worthless. At some point, the government may have to summon up a new currency. I don't think it will be anything like the 'Amero' which the paranoid fringe incessantly mutters about as part of their fantasy in which the US, Mexico, and Canada all join up to become one country. But any 'new dollar' would probably have to be backed by gold.As we discover ourselves to be a much poorer nation, one of my correspondents put it: 'the bogus risk-swapping economy must be replaced by a net value-added economy.' That means actually making things, growing things, and rebuilding things, and that can only begin to happen if we do not stupidly sucker ourselves into a war with other nations who are liable to be extremely ticked off at us for destroying the global economy, but also competing with us for a dwindling supply of resources that are not equitably distributed around the world.
This means especially oil. I hope you're enjoying the temporarily cheap prices at the gas pumps, because this is purely a function of the compressive deleveraging that is going on right now, as contracts and positions held in energy markets are being dumped by everybody and his uncle to raise cash to meet margin calls. My guess is that oil and its byproducts will become much more difficult to get in the months ahead -- not just more expensive, but literally not available.
Previously on Boing Boing:
• World Made By Hand by James Howard Kunstler
• James Howard Kunstler's 'Eyesore of the Month'
(Via Boing Boing.)
that;s hollow weenie right
HOWTO make a brain out of a watermelon: "Here's a lovely Instructable from Scoochmaroo, explaining how to make an edible (well, more edible) brain out of a watermelon -- suitable for vegan zombies.
# Slice off bottom of watermelon so it won't roll around.
# Peel green skin off of the watermelon.
# Score brainy folds in white flesh.
# With a sharp paring knife, carve channels out of melon to resemble cortical folds.
(Via Boing Boing.)
wow
Giant spider eats bird: "A giant Golden Orb Weaver spider caught a chestnut-breasted mannikin bird in its web and made a leisurely lunch on the bird. The photo was snapped in a backyard in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. From the Cairns Post:
'Normally they prey on large insects, it's unusual to see one eating a bird,' (said head spider keeper Joel Shakespeare at the Australian Reptile Park.)
Mr Shakepeare told ninemsn he had seen golden orb weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger...
'(The spider) wouldn`t eat the whole bird,' he told ninemsn.
'It uses its venom to break down the bird for eating and what it leaves is a food parcel,' he said.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Vintage Japanese movie-monster anatomical illustrations: "
Modern Fred's scans of vintage Japanese movie-monster posters include some spectacular pieces, none moreso than the anatomical cutaways of Godzilla, Gamera and co. I always wondered about their skeletal structure!
Kaiju Eiga
(via Geisha Asobi)
(Via Boing Boing.)
Palin on Science (yes, we *do* troll 4chan so you don't have to): "
Buzzfeed points to 'leaked promotional material from Sarah Palin's upcoming ad council campaign.' Don't miss the video referenced there, either. (Thanks Richard Metzger, via)
(Via Boing Boing.)
How's this for "bailout transparency?": "
From BailoutSleuth.com:
When the Treasury Department's bailout czar provided an update this week on the government's $700 billion plan to rescue troubled financial institutions, he vowed that it would be an 'open and transparent program with appropriate oversight.''
The next day, the Treasury Department put out an announcement about a major bailout-related contract with Bank of New York Mellon Corp. that fell short in the transparency department.
The copy of the agreement that was made public had blacked-out paragraphs in the section covering Bank of New York Mellon's compensation. If the Treasury Department is unwilling to disclose the particulars of that contract -- or even the general outline of the compensation scheme -- that raises questions about how it will treat disclosure of other bailout transactions.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Zombie version of Gil Elvgren pin-up: "
Rob Ullman writes:
A few years back, my good pal J Chris Campbell and the fine folks of Wide Awake Press published the Wide Awake 666 anthology. As a way of celebrating one of my favorite holidays, and because I don't imagine I'll have time to create anything new before said holiday, I thought I'd share one of my pieces from that fine book. It's one of two pieces I did for the book, the other which I mentioned quite awhile ago.Now, as you're well aware, I'm kinda known as a guy who draws the girls. I wanted to do something in that vein for WA666, but I didn't want to do some gross thing where some cutie is being killed by a zombie or something, so I compromised, and came up with something totally gross yet pretty funny. I used the cover of an oft-seen collection of pin-up paintings by the great Gil Elvgren as a starting point, and did my own little homage to this familiar image.
(Via Boing Boing.)
getting two
Zombie apocalypse wall-decal: "
The art of gigantic wall decals nears perfection with this huge-mongoose zombie silhouette design, up for bids on eBay.
HUGE LIVING DEAD ZOMBIE ATTACK WALL ART VINYL DECAL!
(Thanks, Chip!)
(Via Boing Boing.)
