Hypermodern International Congress 2175

Remember, it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

20061208

Olympic Mascot Death WARZ and the Continued Pussification of Signs and Symbols Under Global Hegemony




The FUWA welcome your interest in Great China Olympic Spectacle of Worldwide People and Gamesmanship competition. Perhaps you would like to pass the time by playing a little solitare?


Well it's about time to get ready to snuggle up to Red China for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The factories around Beijing and other main sites have been turned off and reassigned to less important provinces. Already the incidence of massive peasant uprisings in the West and sandstorm fog are lifting the veil on this wonderful worldwide event, and millions upon millions of prisoner workers turn their eyes proudly toward the olympic mascots - the Fuwa. The Fuwa consist of five "figures" - Bèibei, with a fish design, Jīngjing, with a giant panda and lotus design, Huānhuan, the Olympic Flame, Yingying, with a Tibetan antelope design, Nīni, with a swallow design. Together the five names form the Chinese phrase "Beijing huan ying ni", which means "Beijing welcomes you". Indeed.

But what about other sub-kistchy figures of days gone by?







Who among us could forget Waldi, the Bavarian Dacshund and mascot of the Munich 1972. Representing the key traits of Resistance, Tenacity and Agility - surely we all rememer the inspiring images of Waldi pulling a wounded Israeli hostage toward the Medivac vehicles at the airport.





Or Mitza, the cute Russian Bear of the 1980 Moscow games. In retrospect, Mitza it wasn't personal. We could never boycot that smile...





Or how about Cobi, the "cubist" (?) rendering of a Catalan sheepdog. Surely, he calls to mind the formless snickering pan-sexuality of the beginning of the Clinton era.






And of course the much maligned Izzy, short for Whatizit? Who best exemplefied our American questioning spirit through his ambiguous and unappologetic lampooning of gay mascots everywhere.

Vote for your favorite....

20061207

Tesla in Pynchon


a quote

"The same began to happen to me also at your age," Tesla recalled. "When I could find the time to sit still, the images would come. But it's always finding the time isn't it?"
"Sure, always something...Chores, something."
"Tithing," Tesla said, "giving back to the day."
...
(104)

20061204

Pynchon


Some might already know, many might not care, but recently Thomas Pynchon released his latest novel, "Against the Day." (I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I already have it. Judging from the readability of its first five pages, I should be able to deliver an opinion on the entire book in half a decade or so. There's also the looming possibility that it could suck.) To celebrate the arrival of this 1,000+ page monstrosity, I offer a passage from "Gravity's Rainbow" as a reminder of how good the man can be when he's smoked the proper amount of weed before putting pen to paper.


Well, if the Courterforce knew better what those categories concealed, they might be in a better position to disarm, de-penis and dismantle the Man. But they don't. Actually they do, but they don't admit it. Sad but true. They are as schizoid, as double-minded in the massive presence of money, as any of the rest of us, and that's the hard fact. The Man has a branch office in each of our brains, his corporate emblem is a white albatross, each local rep has a cover known as the Ego, and their mission in this world is Bad Shit. We do know what's going on, and we let it go on. As long as we can see them, stare at them, those massively moneyed, once in a while. As long as they allow us a glimpse, however rarely. We need that. And how they know it--how often, under what conditions....


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