Terrible Analogies

Clipping from a newspaper, circa 1920:

I find this interesting because Mt. Rubidoux is just a few miles (give or take) from my house.  It’s a place I’ve driven past many, many times.  I always knew that Easter services were popular, but I wasn’t aware how far back this yearly ritual went.  Imagine trying to make your way down this bumpy one-way mountain road in your Model ‘T’ after the sunrise services.

Another interesting thing I discovered while researching this clipping is that Wikipedia has this photo on their Mt. Rubidoux Wiki site.  Comparing the cars in the Wiki photo with this newspaper clipping, it became apparent that, if Wikipedia has their dates correct then my newspaper photo is actually from 1913.

Would anybody out there with an affinity for automobiles be able to pinpoint the date from which this photo was actually taken?  Call me curious…

Religion, cars, holiday cars, holiday, Religion

I thought 2012 was the agreed upon date for our destruction, when Nibiru will pass through our inner solar system, we achieve a collective higher enlightenment, aliens attack and neither Jeff Goldblum nor Bruce Willis can save us, or some other destructive mechanism will signal the end of mankind as we know it.

Little did I know that others have a more pressing, and more exact date for our demise:

I spotted this doomsayer on the freeway, and according to him the end times are an exact science.

God’s wrath on the unbelievers will occur on May 21, 2011.

Pulling out my handy dandy 2011 calendar (ya know, the one with the pictures of fluffy sea otters), this supposed extraterrestrial event is to take place on a Saturday.  One question…will I have time to watch my cartoons before said event spirits us away to destinations unknown?  I mean, I’d just lose it if I missed my Scooby Doo…

Religion, cars cars, Religion

…or is it Merry Memorial Day?  I can’t remember.  

Anyway, being a veteran myself (U.S. Air Force) I’m taking this unexpected free time to get my MAME arcade machine back up and running (thanks go out to House Of Husar for rekindling my long-smoldering classic arcade game obsession).  Its been in pieces ever since we moved into the new home, and lately I’ve been itchin’ to get in a few sessions of Robotron and Gauntlet 2.  

Usually I draw the short straw at work and am forced to put in a few hours on Memorial Day, so it’s nice to have these few fleeting days off of work

Computer, Game, Religion, holiday Computer, Game, holiday, Religion

“Forget about Buddha, Allah, Jesus and Jehovah
Hurry down Doomsday, the bugs are taking over”
               - Elvis Costello: Hurry Down Doomsday 

A woman in Florida claims to have discovered the name of God spelled out in her salami.  Now, I’m not a psychiatrist, so I can’t vouch for this woman’s state of mind, but a couple things about this story instantly jumped out at me.  

1) Taking a look at the pictures, It appears to me that these “letters” spell out the word “Goo”, which happens to be the name of an amazing album by Sonic Youth.  Perhaps this particular hunk of meat was a massive fan?

B) Let’s assume that the letters do indeed spell out “God”.  Exactly what god are they referring to?  The God of thunder, war, or perhaps rock ‘n’ roll?  I have a cousin who (as the story goes) once took some PCP and LSD, declared himself “God”, then ripped out one of his own fingernails with his teeth.  Could this be the god this salami was alluding to?

Now, I’ve written about this subject before, and it amazes me what some people are willing to believe.  I can’t accept that any god, regardless of design, would deem it fit to reveal himself via the compacted innards of a tube of salami, in the wool of sheep, or even in the logo of an ice cream company.  I would think that any god, no matter the point of origin, would have better things to do with his or her time.

I mean, where’s the miracle?  Where’s the blinding light and the sound of trumpets ushering in a glorious new dawn for mankind?  I want crashing lightning, awe-inspiring ethereal angelic choirs, and Hollywood special effects.  But instead of the supernatural, we’re meant to infer that the power of (whatever) god we’re accustomed to is limited to questionable miracles and cryptic signs in our bowl of Cheerios?

Religion Religion

I’ve been living with a secret, one so dark and heavy it weighs me down with guilt, shortens my step, and drains me of my otherwise radiant charm.  It haunts me, daring me to go one more day before letting loose to the world this dreadful unknown.  

But I can’t bear the burden any longer.  My trembling, creaking bones can no longer carry the weight of this ill-gotten fortune.  I must share the origin of my blog title…

As a child I grew up with comic books.  For several years I even worked in a comic book shop.  My favorite series was one that holds the record for longest running english independent comic…Cerebus.  Originally a parody of Conan The Barbarian, it quickly evolved into a tale of politics, finance, religion, and ethics.  In the 300 monthly black and white issues that this story spanned Cerebus, an earth pig born, was a warrior, Prime Minister, the Pope, a witness to God, and finally serving as His vessel and doing His bidding before succumbing to a sad, uncelebrated fate Cerebus has foreseen and knows is ultimately unavoidable.

And this brings me back to my original point.  The title of my blog, Terrible Analogies, comes from an issue of Cerebus.  In it, Cerebus the Pope is rejected by the only woman he ever loved.  Having shed his papal garb and holding his old blade he stands at a pivotal crossroads; continue with his mad plan to bankrupt the city-state of Iest, or slink back to his old ways of living by the sword.  

If you’ve never read independent comics when they truly were independent, then I implore you to read the history of this series.  It’s a quick read, but well worth your time.  Check out some of the amazing cover art as well.  And after having reviewed this information you find yourself wishing to dive into this series, you can purchase the phonebook encyclopedia novels that covers the entire run of Cerebus.

So there you have it.  Terrible Analogies owes its title to Dave Sim and his amazing body of work.  

My love for this series knows no bounds…  

Books, Personal, Religion, comics Books, comics, Religion