Writing a wikipedia page is like writing an essay without transition sentences.
Writing a manifesto, I feel like it should have errors, many tangents, and tons of different fonts. I love it.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Love Stories in V for Vendetta
I'm not sure if I like some of the subplots of the book. The stuff with Almond's widow, and Evey relationship with Gordon. Some of it strikes me as a bit cheesy, and a little unnecessary. But I'll try to write more on this later.
Guy Fawkes, V for Vendetta and Subversion of Tradition
After having finished the second book of V for Vendetta, far from unsettling, I would say that reading all of the anarchistic viewpoint, contrasted with the sleazy underworld--and corrupt elite--makes me feel a little giddy at times. Some of it feels like a brazen kid walking out his high school bathroom as he's putting a cigarette out.
Don't Get me wrong, I totally love V.
I love when something is inverted. Take the Guy Fawkes mask, and V's blowing up parliament on Guy Fawkes Day.
The rhyme that V sings:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, taw’s his intent
To blow up King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
A variant on the foregoing:
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot!
A stick or a stake for King James' sake
Will you please to give us a faggot
If you can't give us one, we'll take two;
The better for us and the worse for you!
Traditionally the following verse was also sung, but it has fallen out of favour because of its content.
A penny loaf to feed the Pope
A farthing o' cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah hoorah!
Another piece of popular doggerel:
Guy, guy, guy
Poke him in the eye,
Put him on the bonfire,
And there let him die.
The easiest place to find these songs was on Wikipedia, so that is where I copied them.
Now, the gunpowder treason was a reactionary backlash against Queen Elizabeth, by a Catholic group. As this nursery rhyme makes apparent, Guy Fawkes was not a beloved figure. The song, and the November Fifth--a national holiday in Britain--is a celebration of the state. V uses it as a celebration against the state. Rather than making Guy Fawkes into the traditional villain, instead we get Guy Fawkes as an actual liberator. Rather than using the idea of Guy Fawkes as a tool to continue the status quo, V uses Fawkes as a way of subverting the status quo.
I find this all delightful and is one of the reasons that I am enjoying the book so much.
Don't Get me wrong, I totally love V.
I love when something is inverted. Take the Guy Fawkes mask, and V's blowing up parliament on Guy Fawkes Day.
The rhyme that V sings:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, taw’s his intent
To blow up King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
A variant on the foregoing:
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot!
A stick or a stake for King James' sake
Will you please to give us a faggot
If you can't give us one, we'll take two;
The better for us and the worse for you!
Traditionally the following verse was also sung, but it has fallen out of favour because of its content.
A penny loaf to feed the Pope
A farthing o' cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah hoorah!
Another piece of popular doggerel:
Guy, guy, guy
Poke him in the eye,
Put him on the bonfire,
And there let him die.
The easiest place to find these songs was on Wikipedia, so that is where I copied them.
Now, the gunpowder treason was a reactionary backlash against Queen Elizabeth, by a Catholic group. As this nursery rhyme makes apparent, Guy Fawkes was not a beloved figure. The song, and the November Fifth--a national holiday in Britain--is a celebration of the state. V uses it as a celebration against the state. Rather than making Guy Fawkes into the traditional villain, instead we get Guy Fawkes as an actual liberator. Rather than using the idea of Guy Fawkes as a tool to continue the status quo, V uses Fawkes as a way of subverting the status quo.
I find this all delightful and is one of the reasons that I am enjoying the book so much.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Manga Bible
I just read about a new version of the Bible in Manga form, and this is a picture of it. I thought it was interesting.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Today is the Day
So this is a link to a series of picture that I thought was interesting
http://istheday.blogspot.com/ . It made me wonder what must be in a comic for it to be a comic, or graphic novel. These are static images using abstract representations to tell a story from panel to panel. One of my hang-ups on why a graphic novel may not be literature—although I think it may be—is the use of painting and drawing. Nobody would consider a statue with a plaque to be literature.
http://istheday.blogspot.com/ . It made me wonder what must be in a comic for it to be a comic, or graphic novel. These are static images using abstract representations to tell a story from panel to panel. One of my hang-ups on why a graphic novel may not be literature—although I think it may be—is the use of painting and drawing. Nobody would consider a statue with a plaque to be literature.
It must go beyond the form it is using to express ideas beautifully to be literature to me. This at least sets up the possibility of including more than just fiction, or history fictionalized, into the canon. And I do think a canon is important, but I realize that it is also someone's opinion of what should be our canon, and not something set in stone--which is bullshit to large degree. Take my definition of literature for instance, and then also see why I put Watchmen into my canon. One of my bases for including some books is whether or not my favorite writers would be influenced or enjoy the book, and I can easily imagine James Joyce or Thomas Pynchon or Kurt Vonnegut or William Shakespeare reading Watchmen.
Literature and Graphic Novels
It must go beyond the form it is using to express ideas beautifully to be literature to me. This at least sets up the possibility of including more than just fiction, or history fictionalized, into the canon. And I do think a canon is important, but I realize that it is also someone's opinion of what should be our canon, and not something set in stone--which is bullshit to large degree. Take my definition of literature for instance, and then also see why I put Watchmen into my canon. One of my bases for including some books is whether or not my favorite writers would be influenced or enjoy the book, and I can easily imagine James Joyce or Thomas Pynchon or Kurt Vonnegut or William Shakespeare reading Watchmen.
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