All publication is a political act. All communication is propaganda. All art is pornography. All business is personal. All hail Eris. Vive le poisson rouge sauvages!
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Stilgherrian’s links for 26 June 2008 through 29 June 2008:
I’ve decided to have another go at publishing the links I find online. So, thanks to del.icio.us and some mild semi-automation, here’s today’s batch.
I’m a sucker for maps. I’m especially a sucker for satirical maps of our psychopolitical geography. So I reckon this Tory Map of the World from 1982 is pretty special.
I particularly like the entire Indian sub-continent labelled as “Pakis” and the mis-identification of Singapore.
Bonus link: A map of The World according to Ronald Reagan, with Africa divided into “Egypt” and “Negroes”.
Thanks to Strange Maps for the pointer.
I just stumbled across this cute little video satirizing the War on (Some) Drugs. This Incarcerex stuff seems like just the ticket. I particularly like the fast-talking side effects warning towards the end.
Thanks to information aesthetics for the pointer.
Surely it’s not too soon to satirize the half-arsed bombing attempt in the UK? Of course not! Thanks to Richard for the pointer.
This image is a work of genius, I think. Sure, the Daily Telegraph started it with a set of three fine photos of John Howard. But the modifications by our unknown pen-wielding humourist are simply superb.
This was passed to me via too many links to track down the source. So if anyone knows the creator of this piece, please tell me so I can give proper credit.
Yes, the photo has the C-word in it. Grow up, we’ve all heard it before…
Yeah OK, it was mentioned in the comments, but the movie Thanksgiving With the Kranzes deserves its own post. It’s a superb satire on Ron Howard’s Apollo 13. 18 minutes well spent. And it ties in nicely with my posts about the oven crash and failure IS an option. Now back to work…
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my very great pleasure tonight to announce the recipient of the Inaugural Paul Neil Milne Johnstone Award for Language Mutilation.
This award is named in honour of the late Paul Johnstone of Redbridge in England, who was cited by author Douglas Adams as writing the worst poetry in the entire universe. This award isn’t about poetry, however. It’s about Language. Language — and especially the abuse of language — in all its glory.
Of the many things which make us human, Language is one of the most important. Language binds our society together. Language, some even say, is what allows us to think rational thoughts.
So when people use Language badly, when Language is abused in order to mislead, to corrupt, to baffle or to sell a product, we shouldn’t ignore it. We should stand it on a pedestal, call up the author, point to them and say in a loud voice, “This person is destroying the very meaning of humanity.”
With this in mind, I’ve chosen as the recipient of the Inaugural Paul Neil Milne Johnstone Award a representative of a profession — if I may call it that — which is renown the world over for misleading language, namely, a real estate agent.
Ladies and gentlemen, would you please put your hands together for Claudia Mendez (pictured right), of Laing+Simmons, Newtown.
Now as Claudia is making her way to the stage, I’d like to say a few words about my choice, and take a look at her work…
I’ve finally found the text for the famous “Real Estate” speech by Fred Dagg, aka John Clarke. Lifted from Eric Lindsay’s blog, where it was shameless plagiarised…
That great satirist Peter Cook was once asked if he thought that satire had a political effect. He said:
Absolutely. The greatest satire of the twentieth century was the Weimar cabaret, and they stopped Hitler in his tracks.
Attributed to Stephen Colbert, in a Rolling Stone interview, thanks to Blog Them Out of the Stone Age.
OK, it’s been ages since I posted something, so to remind everyone that I still exist, here’s two of my current favourite satires.
In another triumph of tolerance and freedom of expression, the Prime Minister’s office ordered the shutdown of a spoof John Howard website which featured an “apology” speech for the Iraq war.
Australian futurist and social commentator Richard Neville created johnhowardpm.org on Monday and received 10,500 visits within 24 hours. It was closed down by domain registrar Melbourne IT on Tuesday, but Neville was only told yesterday that this was “on the advice from the Australian Government”.
Mr Neville says the parody was an act of satire, and now has a PDF copy of the speech on his website.
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