Jul 30
Some of you know of my love of comic books – or for the more academic term coined by Will Eisner and popularized by Scott McCloud – sequential art. A tight narrative that weaves around colourful characters, coupled with the artist’s dazzling imagination captured in pencil and ink, and highlighted by moody shades and hues: this is perfection.
So is a nicely grilled steak. And an ice cold beer on a hot day. And the view when day breaks on some picturesque landscape, rays of sunlight peeking over mountaintops like curious toddlers, quickly flooding the valley with warmth and life. But I digress….
Like other media that rely on physical formats, there has been much ballyhoo about how comics will survive in the digital world. Is that the sinister visage of Herr InterTubez, cackling with unbridled joy at the inevitable death of my beloved artform? One particular response is this meditation on storytelling, which literally explodes off the page and explores the electronic medium. It entertains and challenges the mind simultaneously, like caviar for your mind.
Pushing boundaries don’t have to happen through the delivery mechanism. A primary vehicle that makes you stop with unexpected clarity is content. New and bold ideas are often explored through fiction, especially within works of the science fiction variety. One of my current online reads is Escape From Terra, a webcomic that looks at how society might evolve in the future. The current arc has introduced an intriguing character, who develops “disruptive technologies” for the common good. His latest invention are “plants that will yield meat genetically identical to cows, chickens, fish and everything else.”
Meat seeds.
Just imagine for one second if we had meat seeds today. This is different than growing meat from a petri dish – which somehow conjures up images of mad scientists, and makes people squeamish. Instead you can sprinkle these seeds on the ground, water and tend them, and soon you’ll be harvesting gourds full of chicken-y flavour. Where do I sign up?
The ills of the world are being solved in the fantastic realms of artists. When will everyone else catch up?
Jul 27
I came across that question in the current issue of Monocle – and it got me pondering. While we’re very conscious of what we put in our bodies, what about the stuff we upload into our minds? Sure, we count calories but how many of us actually measure the content?
Wired recently posted a neat illustration that divides one’s media intake by type and by time spent. While this methodology recalls the food pyramid we’re taught at a young age, it does beg the question: is this breakdown actually healthy? While we can debate about whether 3.5 hours of entertainment is optimal, I think we need to examine the types of media we consume. To use the food analogy, it’s not only the number of servings of each food group that matters, but also where you’re getting your vitamins, carbs and proteins.
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Jan 08
It seems somewhat appropriate that humankind’s mortality and gluttony meet face to face in that last stronghold of brutality and barbarism in a civilized democracy – capital punishment. A final drag on a cigarette, as the shackled
revolutionary defiantly stares down raised barrels, or the opportunity to etch one’s place in the annals of history with a cutting barb à la Marx (“Go on, get out. Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.”), it’s the final countdown to placate our ever-hungry never-satisfied appetites.
Whether or not you agree with the sanctioned extermination of a human being’s life, we all havea certain morbid curiosity with what tastes grace the palates of death row inmates, and if this list is any indication, plain and simple seems to be the trend.
Which makes My Last Supper such an enlightening peek into the minds of celebrity chefs. Multi-course exotic feasts juxtaposed against mother’s home cooked meals – it seems even these culinary masters are divergent when it comes to gustation – go figure. As one victim astutely points out, you really have only two choices: “to have a meal you’ve never had before, or to relive a meal you’ve already experienced.”
In his introduction, Anthony Bourdain sheds light on why the last supper (not that one!) enthrals the mind of the cuisin-artist:
“If cooking professionally is about control – about manipulating the people, the ingredients, and the strange, physical forces of the kitchen universe to do one’s bidding; always anticipating, always preparing, always dominating one’s environment – then eating well is about submission. About letting go.”
Extreme sports enthusiasts will say that’s the reason they attempt insane skiing stunts at the top of mountains, flying over ancient Chinese battlements, or facing certain doom with a well pressed shirt. Death, that ultimate finality, the stamp on our passport that seals our fate, is the ultimate thrill ride. Or at least the threat of it…
For who among us are ready to take that final shuffle off this mortal coil? Suicidal readers need not raise your hands… Are you ready to look the grim reaper in the eye, take one sweet last breath and step into the light? Death is what defines our life – we are truly remembered by our peers when we are long gone, and they sit around a blazing fire, making toast in our honour. The king is dead, long live the king…
So what about my last supper? That menu has yet to be composed, but when the time comes, your place will be reserved.
