Splendid Isolation

Grown-Up Comics

March 28, 2020 Kim du Toit Entertainment

I have often heaped scorn on adults who still read comic books and watch movies based thereon, but as with all things, there are exceptions to this.

One of them is the peerless Asterix series of comic books, created by the now-deceased French writer/illustrator team of Rene Goscinny and Alberto Uderzo, translated into English (and improved) by the late Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge. (I’ve read them in both French and English, and the English ones are funnier to Anglophones because the French dialog often references obscure French customs and idioms.)

The reason that the Asterix books are so funny is that while on a superficial level, the story is aimed at children and can be enjoyed by them (Gauls beating up Romans, and the hero Asterix getting involved in all sorts of escapades), the real humor is in the writing. This is not child’s play at all, because one needs a real knowledge of Latin, some Greek, and huge dollops of classical history for much of it to make sense. (Older TV cartoons — Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse etc. — are similar in that while there’s a lot for kids to enjoy, the humor is often very adult, in the traditional sense.)

What often causes me to break out in howls of uncontrollable laughter are the names: the Gauls (Asterix, Obelix, Cacafonix the bard, Impedimenta the chief’s wife, Unhygenix the fishmonger and his wife Bacteria, Postaldistrix the mailman, etc.), the Romans (Spurius Brontosaurus, Gluteus Maximus, Surplus Dairyprodus, Crismusbonus, Dubious Status, Nefarious Purpus, etc.) as well as other nationalities (Ekonomikrisis the Greek/Phoenician, Wotzisnehm the Indian fakir, Mykingdomforanos the British chieftain, Edifis the Egyptian architect, etc.).

Likewise, Uderzo’s depictions of all these characters are wonderful: full of expression and action, they make the Marvel-type of cartoon drawing look like the work of children. Here are just a few examples:

And then there are the ladies:

But they all pale into insignificance when there’s fighting:

And cultural differences are always a source of entertainment, whether it’s just beer:

…sexism:

…a Roman orgy:

…or just a sly dig, so to speak:

…and occasionally, there are some guest appearances:

I could go on all day about this wonderful creation, but there’s a decent Wikipedia entry (for a change).

I’ve read the first twenty-four (the “true” Asterix books) in the series, and maybe a couple of others. I have only a few in my library, because they’re expensive when bought Over Here. But to re-read them is a very definite item on Ye Olde Buckette Lyste.

Oh, and to bring this all (very) up to date: in Asterix And The Chariot Race (published in 2017), Asterix’s main competitor is named… Coronavirus.

Lifeline

March 27, 2020 Kim du Toit Good Stuff

I have the best Readers on the Internet, bar none. That’s not sucking up, that’s a statement of fact.

When I put out my call for help last week, I had no idea what the response would be, mostly because everyone’s having pretty much the same kind of trouble I am, and let’s be honest, this blog is pretty thin gruel as a platform on which to base an appeal.

This is not a blog which offers legal advice, or medical advice, or even soft stuff which feeds the soul like movie reviews or stuff like that. All you get for your visit is, well, all the stuff you see if you hit the “page back” buttons at the bottom: guns, women, anger, commentary, vitriol and the occasional review of stuff I like that others may not be aware of, e.g. Dutch metal, an unknown artist or some obscure gun.

What I was not prepared for was the generosity and the breadth of your response to my appeal, which has been, in a word, astonishing. Just so you know, you’ve basically kept the wolf from the door by enabling me to pay some large and unexpected costs, most especially a massive medical bill for New Wife, and a couple more of similar magnitude. Were I still Ubering, I could have taken care of most of that just by working longer hours (as I have in the past), but with the Uber business drying up completely, that was no longer an option.

Instead, I can breathe freely for the next few weeks until the insanity is over and I can get back to work again. And if all goes well, when the self-isolation and lockdowns go away and life can creep back to normal, New Wife can finally get a job so we can actually start saving.

We can but hope.

So on behalf of both Angie and myself, please accept our humblest and most grateful thanks. Whether by small Patreon contributions or by larger single amounts, you my Readers have taken untold stress out of our life.

In return, while I’m still self-isolating (not splendidly, by the way — how ironic is that title now?) I promise to continue this blog with even greater zeal than I have before. One Reader used these words (paraphrased, lest he be embarrassed): “When your old website went dark before, I missed it badly — and if I can help it, that’s never going to happen again.” Others said similar wonderful things, and all I can say is that you made New Wife cry, because she doesn’t know you like I do and was completely blindsided.

And using my isolation to good effect: in a couple of weeks’ time, I will have completed a long-promised but creatively-blocked novel, which I will put on sale through Kindle so that everyone reading this can get one, for about the price of a lottery ticket.

It’s often said that “Words cannot express my gratitude” and that’s very true, but I’ve nevertheless tried to do so here, and I hope I’ve succeeded.

Thank you all, and bless every one of you for your generosity, kind words and support.

Clinical Observation

March 27, 2020 Kim du Toit Disaster, Gummint

Following on from Peter Hitchens’s take (as referenced here) on mass quarantining of the population comes this clear-headed analysis from Hector Drummond:

Communicable disease epidemics almost always rise and fall in a bell-shaped curve. That’s what you rarely hear from the media. They’re always talking about the exponential growth. What they usually fail to mention is that soon after the period of exponential growth, there’s a plateau, and then an exponential drop-off. With these sorts of diseases the curve usually follows the seasons, at least to some degree. Coronaviruses, as far as I can gather, typically die back by mid-spring.
…
When we look at all the daily graphs from the various countries there’s not much sign that the skyrocket is just around the corner. I don’t trust China’s figures at all, so I’m not going to mention them, but with most other countries we’re seeing either a plateau, a mild recent increase, or a dying back. If you’re an epidemiologist you may want to take issue with my analysis (and please do so if you want), but this doesn’t look like a disease that is threatening disaster upon us all. It looks like a disease that is thinking of putting its feet up for the Easter hols. Perhaps there will be a few weeks increase in some places, some of which may look alarming at the time, but then, most likely, a dying off. Then maybe a new wave in the northern hemisphere in November-December. That’s the time to prepare for. Get some more intensive care beds ready, and some ventilators built for then. Now is not the time for a shutdown and economic self-harm. Now is the time to make hay while the sun shines, and be prepared for when winter comes.
In other words, the horror stories are all in the modelling, not in real life. Sound familiar? This is what the climate change scam was based on. Scary computer models that somehow never got confirmed by real-life data, yet justified government and other institutions in grabbing more power for themselves. This is just another example, only a more effective one than climate change. Here’s a scary-looking computer model, we have to be given wartime powers right now before it happens, if you wait we’ll all be dead. It’s the oldest trick in the book for the ruling class.

And there it is, in a nutshell. As for proof of government’s intentions and its baleful oppression, you need look no further than (of course) California:

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti threatened “non-essential” businesses Tuesday that if they do not obey the city’s “stay at home” order to close during the pandemic crises, he will cut off their water and their electricity.

Here ya go:

Or, as they say in Chinese:

By the way, while I urge you to read the whole of Drummond’s post above, I think you should go to his Home page and read everything he’s written on the topic.

Leadership

March 27, 2020 Kim du Toit Business, Heroism

Mitch Berg (my old buddy from the Pleistocene Age of blogging) provides a little historical perspective which, like most of Mitch’s stuff, is superbly written and crafted. But there’s one part which got my attention, bigly:

But America is a restless, endlessly creative, impatient nation, overstocked with people who are not going to sit on their hands and wait for things to get better; it’s a nation full of people who are descended from people who came from all over the world, uprooting everything they knew, to make things better.

I think that we forget this, sometimes, and I know that certain sections of our society — the Press, the academe, and all the Socialist-politicians — rather wish that we were not like that, because it interferes with their little plans to turn us all into vassals and serfs of the Almighty State.

But we are like that; and that national characteristic is going to make the recovery from this Chinese bio-invasion lightning-fast and stronger than anyone can imagine. And if anyone disagrees with this, the chances are that they are part of the problem: the Press, the academe, and all the Socialist-politicians.

We shall overcome — not “some day”, but soon, Bubba. Buckle yer seatbelts.

News Roundup

March 27, 2020 Kim du Toit Bad News

…in which I cast a mordant eye at the passing parade:

…no kidding, Captain Obvious. Why else would they propose it?

…gimme a pint of fish-tank cleaner with an arsenic chaser while I run a hot bath and get the razor blades ready. (No link, because I care for my Readers.)

…first Illinois and now Connecticut act like they actually believe in the Second Amendment. Are we in End Times, or am I drinking hallucinogen instead of breakfast gin?

…but of course, New Jersey seldom fails to disappoint.

…I blame the global climate change movement, because had Spectrum Child not been an insufferable little scold, jetting/sailing all over the world to shout her bullshit at us, this may not have happened.