Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Fig leafs

29 comments:

Bronislaus Janulis / Framewright said...

Good one. :-)

The Dissonance said...

Eolake, do you have an attribution to this comic? I'd like to use it.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Pascal says it's an Iranian artist, I think he is trying to track him down.

He is very good. Perfect anatomy, and life in every line.

Anonymous said...

and life in every line.

What a flake!

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yeah, that's what they said about Charles Manson.

Leviathud said...

Anonymous: code for I dont have the confidence of conviction to be held responsible for my sentiments.

Well done. Although I feel that the issue of the burkha (or it hijab?) is far too complicated to be dealt with in a single cartoon.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Anon,
Actually, if you look closely, you'll notice it's green, so it's DEFINITELY a fig leaf, not a giant snowflake.

Levia-stud,
The artist has made at least one other cartoon on that topic. But I don't have it right now, gotta rummage through my vast file archives to find it.

Dissonance,
Unfortunately, same goes for the artist's name. It'll take me time to find it again.
This is a very popular cartoon, over the years I've received it from various friends at least four times, last time a couple days ago. Sadly, without the artist's reference, or even the original filename. :-(
Call it another anonymous internet virus...

When I find that reference and second cartoon, I'll make sure to blog them, or to send them to the Captain. Or both.

As for term distinctions:
-Shador is the religious scarf that covers the whole of a woman's hair (and tends to look like WW2 german helmets over the forehead, IMO). Sometimes renamed hijab, but technically the hijab is a veil that hides the face, nothing else. Even in these parts, a "muhajjaba" woman usually means that she wears the shador. (Yup, everybody tends to get the vocabulary mixed up!)
-Niqab is the full-body suit that covers all of the silhouette to make it shapeless, and leaves only the eyes visible. Usually with a hanging veil under the eyes that conceals the face but allows to eat -messily- and can be easily removed when in private.
-Burqa is the Taliban "one step further" version, basically the "ghost disguise" with mesh screen covering even the eyes, and usually in that typical shade of blue we've come to know from Afghanistan news reports.
There's also the abaya (I think it's "hood/cloak"), the jilbab (the body part of the niqab?)...
I'm sure Wikipedia will give you more details, for those interested. (Hey, not everybody is a fan of Domai! ;-)
I've once come across a step further from the burqa. Some undetermined day, on my blog.

Fundie body covering rules, like in the land of "our fine and democratic Saudi friends" demand that the wrists, hands, ankles and feet also be covered, hence the use of gloves. Unless you're a cop. Black is SO elegant in the desert, don't you think?

Interesting, that abundance of body-covering accessories and matching terms. Very culturally revealing!

The african Amar people have a great many words for cattle colors. The polar Inuit have maybe TWO HUNDRED words for describing snow, each with its own nuance.

Like the Chinese proverb says, "when you're fond of something, you talk about it a lot".

I guess the Arabs are VERY fond of Israel, in some way...

TC [Girl] said...

Pascal said...
"Anon,
Actually, if you look closely, you'll notice it's green, so it's DEFINITELY a fig leaf, not a giant snowflake."

You SILLY Doctor! lol!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous: code for I dont have the confidence of conviction to be held responsible for my sentiments.

Said by the dickless piece of shit hiding behind the meaningless handle "Leviathud." Well done, moron. Reason is not your strong suit. (I doubt anything is, though.)

Ray said...

Dear Anonymous:

Where Leviathud comes from, they make big men, not big pricks!

And remember the old proverb:
"Trust in Allah, but tie your camel."

Anonymous said...

Anon's antics remind me of an article. Seems a good, all purpose response for this kind of thing: http://tinyurl.com/mqmpu8

Anonymous said...

What, it's wrong to call someone on their flakiness? Come one, "life in every line"? Who can't laugh at that? It's the whole pretentious faux-artist, pseudo-intellectual, schtick that guys like that do. Had he lived in the 50s, Eolake would have worn a black turtleneck and beret.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yes, and in the 1890s, a hat with a feather in it. You got me, I'm an aesthete.
It might seem fake to you, and I can respect that. To people working in coal mines or battlefields, fine art seems trivial at best. But to me it's real. I just calls it as I sees it.

Anonymous said...

I'm an aesthete.

It's obvious you don't know what that words means. Anyway you clearly can't tell what truly qualifies as art and what is mere illustration. Or between art of the highest quality, and that of the second rank. And obviously a mind which is not able to understand ideas beyond the most superficial. The Beatnik reference was to point out that the majority of those, like Hippies or any mass conformist movement (whose adherents all think of themselves as individualists), were poseurs. They didn't believe in it. They didn't understand it. You know nothing of art and should not consider yourself an artist. You're a pretender.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Dude, whether I am any *good* at it is up to higher forces than you or I to decide. But I've lived and breathed for art my whole life.
And I have as many weaknesses like anybody, but I've never fucking been a pretender. If I was to be one, it would not be something never likely to get me any chicks or moolah, now, would it?

So just go fuck yourself with a cactus and masturbate with a cheese grater.

Anonymous said...

If I was to be one, it would not be something never likely to get me any chicks or moolah, now, would it?

Sure, why not? A lot of people get this idea in their head about the kind of person they want to be, and if it turns out they suck at it and/or can't make money at it they still try to play that part.

So just go fuck yourself with a cactus and masturbate with a cheese grater.

In that Cracked article Eric posted, you'd be The Angsty Unfunner. Don't try to become a writer if that's the best you can do. Or at least don't ever try to be funny.

Anonymous said...

I think that was the point, anon. For all your talk of knowing what such-and-such means and who is and is not a poseur something as simple as this shouldn't go over your head.

I'm sure I've opened myself to your razor sharp critiques. By your standards it was a stillborn attempt at humor, an abortion performed by the fetus' own will because it couldn't take it anymore. Unlike you, however, my head is not so far up my rectum that I will suffocate on the gas in my own intestines. Let it be known that as your oxygen grows scarce and your folded body waddles frenziedly into the nearest wall I will have the decency to direct you toward the street.

Eric² said...

So just go f*** . . .

ha! never heard you drop the (f-)bomb before! Great art! ★★★★

laurie said...

Wow, I haven't been on here for quite awhile. Re. the exchange with anon., whom I love, Eo, I love to hear you swear; Eric, love your intelligence and humor, a true pleasure.

love
L.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Thanks, Darling, nice to have you drop by.

Anonymous said...

Eric, love your intelligence and humor, a true pleasure.

Did that post get erased? I must have missed it.

Anonymous said...

I think that was the point, anon.

I got the impression it was a genuine attempt at humor.

The Cracked article was a bit disappointing though. This poor man's MAD Magazine has decline in quality since it went to web only.

Even MAD might go under, it seems they are only publishing quarterly now.

TC [Girl] said...

Eric2 & Laurie: I agree: I thought it was HIGH TIME for Eo to say something and...I LIKE what you said, too, Eo!! "So just go fuck yourself with a cactus and masturbate with a cheese grater." Ouchie!! GOOD ONE!! I was IMPRESSED!! lol! ;-)

TC [Girl] said...

And...I guess I keep wondering WHY Anon keeps coming back to *piss* on everything! Too bad that article didn't cover the: *someone-who-doesn't-have-a-life-but-really-needs-to-get-a-life-but-probably-can't-because-life-has-been-too-painful-for-them-to-cope-with* Anonymous Commenter! :-( Welcome to *Life* Anon! We ALL have SHIT happen to us. Yes...SHIT HAPPENS!! Get up and dust yourself off and join us or...MOVE ON!! Crickey!! lol!

I'm starting to appreciate the saying that, supposedly, *mothers of the world* have doled out for decades: if you can't say anything nice, then don't bother saying ANYTHING...at ALL!! But...perhaps Anon was raised by wolves!! :-(

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"The Cracked article was a bit disappointing though."

I agree. Unreadable. Unlike some of them.

Anonymous said...

I agree. Unreadable. Unlike some of them.

Yes, some are quite good. It's probably a bad idea to respond to your critics, as the author of that article did. I always hate it when the Simpsons does that too.

As for MAD, I picked up an issue a while back after not having read it for years, probably at least 10 years, and IMHO it's gone way downhill. People usually don't give editors enough credit, but clearly Bill Gaines had something that's been lost.

Too bad that article didn't cover the: *someone-who-doesn't-have-a-life-but-really-needs-to-get-a-life-but-probably-can't-because-life-has-been-too-painful-for-them-to-cope-with* Anonymous Commenter!

Actually, I think that was all of them. No one else would bother to write in, at least nothing nasty. Thoughtful, constructive criticism is a different thing.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"It's probably a bad idea to respond to your critics, as the author of that article did. I always hate it when the Simpsons does that too."

Yes. Why point out a point of criticism to the millions who never heard of it?


"People usually don't give editors enough credit, but clearly Bill Gaines had something that's been lost."

It's true, an editor is invisible power behind magazines and such. I just cancelled my sub to Professional Photographer because the mag had become so boring since Steve Hynes left a couple years ago.

I haven't read MAD since the eighties, and even then I don't think it had any of its early genius.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

In today's world, anybody's strongest suit is likely to be their law suit. Ask Ally McBeal!

"Trust in Allah, but tie your camel."
Amen! :-)

He who wants a big prick, better find a big thorn. -- (Improvised Zen)

"Come one, "life in every line"? Who can't laugh at that?"
I can definitely hear it with a straight face.
Then again, not everybody's a self-control prodigy like me. ;-)

Black turtleneck and beret? Hey, reminds me of that french modern artist I almost dated once, Koko.
But I later found out she was from Cleveland and had a penis. Man, talk about embarrassing!
Sneaking "her" OUT of my dorm unnoticed was practically a miracle, but I managed to avoid anybody finding out.
Still, "she" sure knew her shit about art.

"Yes, and in the 1890s, a hat with a feather in it."
The real viral fad for those was in the days of Louis XIII. Aah, my glorious days as a Musketeer cadet! Those were the days.
Still, in 1893, feathered hats were quite elegant too. That was a good season for fashion elegance.

"To people working in coal mines or battlefields, fine art seems trivial at best."
Hey, did you know that über-famous male model Zoolander had two brothers, AND his father, working precisely in a coal mine?
But it's true they weren't very supportive of his career choice at first.

"- I'm an aesthete.
- It's obvious you don't know what that words means."

Well, d'uh! Is there anybody that doesn't know where the sovereign nation of Aesthetistan is located?
My aunt Euphrasia visits her Aesthetistan every month.

But let's give it to Anon: he really knows how to build a rock-solid argument. Emphasis on "rock".

"You're a pretender."
Not correct. Professional pretenders are called ACTORS. Or politicians, but these claim they're not pretending.

"So just go fuck yourself with a cactus and masturbate with a cheese grater."
Ooh, creative solo S&M!
Love it.
A dynamic porn suggestion in the Maghreb is "My dick in your mom's ribcage and her p**** on a dead camel's dong". (Does THAT one impress you, TC? I've got a whole catalogue. That little draft temporarily called the Kama-Sutra sure has come a long way after I was invited to contribute to it.)
But I must confess I never tried out that one. Dead camels are rather hard to come up with in Lebanon, you wouldn't imagine.

"Don't try to become a writer if that's the best you can do."
Actually, Sugar Domino got quite a success. I heard that fine eroticism connoisseurs have really taken to that game in real life...
But I've sworn discretion, so don't ask me for names. "You've got to know somebody in order to get invited in". As Bernie Madhoff would say.

"I guess I keep wondering WHY Anon keeps coming back to *piss* on everything!"
It's called urolagnia, an surprisingly common sexual fetish. Hey, to each his own, I always say.
(Don't google that word at work, you've been warned!!!)

"Or at least don't ever try to be funny."
Excellent advice. It's funniest when one wasn't even trying. Nothing beats spontaneous funny.
I manage to amuse myself several times a day.

"By your standards it was a stillborn attempt at humor"...
Now, see, THAT is refined.
A bit crude-sounding and clinical, but jocularly, it's refined. And I know my shit.

"Eo, I love to hear you swear"
Ditto.
It's true, I swear. (Oops!)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"He who wants a big prick, better find a big thorn. -- (Improvised Zen)"

I like it. And we have both in our beloved perpetual Anon.