Laughing With Hitler

This has to be by far my favourite documentary on WWII, proving once more that not only can humour be crudely wielded for devastating effect, but can also be humanity's greatest weapon in troubled times. Indeed, humour is a social gage just like the fool in a king's court. Cue Hitler jokes.

Nazi Donald Duck?

I can't get enough of the Nostalgia Chick... I really should post her first review ever on Pocahontas...

Everything is Amazing!

It hit me the other day: I can't think of a better era to be alive in. Everything is amazing! This particular epiphany came to me while travelling between Québec city and Montréal the other day. There I was, working on my thesis, when BAM! My head snapped up and my synapses were pulsing: "Oh my God! Here I am, on a train, going 200 km/h, in Canada, researching through a library in freakin' France to read a 250 year old book I otherwise would not have physical access to unless I chose to cross the Atlantic... and as I'm writing, my fingers aren't sore from pushing a pencil nor do I have to freak over a temperamental typerwritter!" Boy, did we evolve from monks scribbling away, to Gutenberg's press, to sheer awesomeness! And yet everyone takes this for granted! ARG! People, listen to Louis C.K.:

And I don't care much for this cynicism:

Come on people, take five minutes to drool over your luck of having been that one spermatozoa to have conquered the odds and made it to 21st century Western civilization!

A Purrrfect Read

Even my own kitty approves this book

Title: The Well-Read Cat (Originally titled: Des chats passant parmi les livres)

Author: Michèle Sacquin (Translated by Isabel Ollivier)

Publisher: Bibliothèque nationale de France and Officina Libraria

Published in: 2010, Paris

Pages: 207

As the corny yet inevitable title of this review states, I have just polished off a wonderful little book on cats through history. To be more precise, this book is a sampling of images of cats found in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Anyone who has visited the famed library (or at least its massive website at gallica.bnf.fr) knows that many treasures are to be found there. It was only a matter of time before a cat lover, incidentally the library’s curator, decided to fish out its feline photographs and imagery. Alongside the panoply of paper cats (as the book calls them), we have the pleasure of reading various quotes on these whiskered critters by famous authors. The main text is a brief exploration of the history of the perception of cats in folklore and popular culture. Thanks to the extensive holdings at the BnF, the author is able to present cats not only in a European context, but a Middle-Eastern and Asian one as well. One page might contain the photograph of an Egyptian cat carved in a regal pose, while another will illustrate a turn-of-the-century French milk ad. Speaking of which, it is good to be reminded that the book was previously published in French before being translated in English and Italian (Gatti di Biblioteca). Rightly so: the allure of this four-legged house-pet reaches beyond geography, as pictures of Japanese pussies will attest to. The reader of this book will also appreciate this last cheeky allusion as the author does not shy away from more explicit symbolism and representations of cats. Indeed, she reminds us that for the longest time, cats were not only linked to witchcraft (in fact, regardless of colour until a few centuries ago), but were equally a symbol of female sexuality. Our only qualm with this book is the numerous mentions of other artwork not reproduced within these pages. Then again, we must remind ourselves that the objective of the book is to highlight only pieces found at the BnF. All in all, even though this book is a relatively short read (easily accomplished in less than an afternoon as I have done, sitting next to the lion statues at the Art Institute of Chicago where I picked up my copy), one can spend hours looking at these wonderful representation of cats through the ages. Do not miss this one, especially if you have a feline companion of your own!

A new meaning to Persian cat...

One seriously creepy medieval puss...

A fine feline if ever there was.

Definitely Not A Flat Read!

Title: Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea
Author: Christine Garwood
Publisher: Pan
Published in: 2008 (Paperback edition)
Pages: 436

If you're a sucker for weird ideas and strange people, this book is for you! As the title obviously points out, Garwood recounts the fascinating history behind the erroneous idea that the earth is flat. While reading this book, one can't stop making a parallel between fanatical "flat earthers" and the creationism crowd still fighting science in the classroom today. This should come to no surprise, since Garwood immediately links the two in her introduction. As you read on, she immediately dispels the myth that Christopher Columbus was the first man to prove the world was round (in fact, by the Renaissance,  everyone -  or at least, anyone who could read and write - knew our planet was a beach ball in space, rather than a free-floating Frisbee). Nope, notch one for the Greeks for first figuring out the circumference of the planet à la MacGyver, all without the fancy schmancy satellites of today. And yet, even with today's technology that has not only proven the Greeks right but also corrected their measurements to minute exactitude, there are still people fighting reality to this day... Never has the proverb "truth is stranger than fiction" rung more true than in this book. So find a nice flat spot to lay down, and enjoy a good read!

By the way, someone might want to buy this guy a copy...