Cartoons!

I love cartoons, and if you haven't already become a jaded old fart, you probably do to! Here is a collection of my favorite cartoons via Youtube.

First up is the 1929 Bosko cartoon The Talk-Ink Kid. Bosko was created in 1927 by Hugh Harman while working for Disney on the Alice Comedies. This cartoon does nothing more then showcase the ability to animate soundtrack-synchronized speech and dancing. It would be the only Bosko cartoon that features Bosko with characteristics that could be considered ractist. In his book, Of Mice and Magic, Leonard Maltin states that this early version of Bosko "was in fact a cartoonized version of a young black boy... he spoke in a Southern Negro dialect... in subsequent films this characterization was eschewed, or perhaps forgotten. This could be called sloppiness on the part of Harman and Ising, but it also indicates the uncertain nature of the character itself."



Falling Hare is a 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert Clampett, starring Bugs Bunny. It is of note because it features one of the few times that Bugs Bunny as the protagonist has been outsmarted. This cartoon also features a few digs at Disney.



This 1951 Goofy cartoon is a good example of Disney showing Goofy as an everyman, a device Disney used numerous times, but there is more here then meets the eye. While we are shown Goofy, the actuality is that Goofy is playing George Geef, who lives in a world populated by Goofies. Huh. Keep an eye open for the drug reference.



Rabbit Seasoning is a 1951 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones. It is the sequel to Rabbit Fire, and the second entry in the "Hunter's trilogy" directed by Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It could be considered the greatest meeting between Daffy and Bugs as they both take turns outwitting Elmer Fudd.



All I can say is that Squidbillies is one of the best cartoons I've ever seen. So bizarre.

Liars Liars Liars

We here at the Hall of Owls love Liars. Drum's Not Dead appeared on many of 2006's best of lists, yet the band was already recording their next record. There was much speculation about their musical direction after something as cohesive as Drum, but when a recent article on Pitchfork used phrases like "guitar solos" and "Neil Young," many fans were left scratching their heads.

After hearing a few of the songs from their upcoming eponymous release, it appears that they did indeed write a rock record, but it still sounds like Liars. It just has more, you know, riffs.

Liars -- "Sailing to Byzantium" from Liars
Liars -- "Clear Island" from Liars

Throat Bordello. Signed, Thor

There was a period a few years ago when I took to collecting spam e-mails. Not all spam e-mails, mind you, but ones of a certain type. In order to circumvent some earlier junk mail filters, companies would embed an image with their spiel. However, a single image in an e-mail would most certainly been caught by the filter, so they hoped to skirt that by putting in some dummy text. Usually, these were nonsensical strings of words, but often they would coalesce into an unintended meaning. I thought immediately of Burroughs and his studies of deconstructed language; or even Aztec priests, who found meaning in the vivisected entrails of their sacrifices. I had planned, along with some of the other Owls, to make a zine highlighting these serendipitous moments, but a string of new projects and life upheavals kept it simmering on the back burner. I won't inundate you with my entire collection -- I have over fifty saved e-mails -- but below is a sample. The first two are mangled text from Dickens' David Copperfield:

» It appeared to me that the gentleman in spectacles backed his hat with the novelty of this cookery, the excellence of it. He was quite loquacious; giving me to understand, among other pieces.

» Don't you mind devoid of evil, in its passing away from her, leave her more and was so glad to see old Traddles who always dined with us on her deck, as she turned on her beam-ends towards the shore, now I laid great emphasis on that, as if to imply that I should still and Mrs. Crupp, who was busy making tea.

» If defined by grizzly bear, play pinochle with espadrille behind, then snowed inside to get stinking drunk. Related to sandwich -- senator about earring -- and wedding dress related to are what made America great!

» Unlike so many alchemists who have made their molten pork chops...

» A few clodhoppers and tape recorders arrive at a state of freight train. Now and then, toward rattlesnake, ignore gonad pickup truck. Somnambulist about is linguistic. Most bubble baths believe that toward dolphins, but customers towards starlets.

Alas, e-mail spam technology waits for no one, and it's been a while since I've seen anything like this in my junk mail folder.