Politic Obscura

Memento, the brilliant, head splitting film that Christopher Nolan put together before he began Batmanning, jumped into my head today when I read the latest few installments of some webcomics I keep up with.

As with blogs, web comics are generally published in chronological order, meaning that when you go to read them, you generally end up reading them in reverse chronological order, unless you’ve been catching every installment as they’ve been posted/published/put online.

This phenomenon isn’t ubiquitous, some comics are day by day affairs, with little or no continuing storyline, and some of the comics that do have a continuing storyline offer ways in which you can read through ‘chapters’ at a time.

But often, you end up reading the story backwards to how it goes - hence the Memento reminder.

I don’t think this actually says anything all that profound; you’re still experiencing the story, the main change is that rather than wondering or anticipating what will come next, you’re wondering or anticipating what came before to make the characters act so damn strange.

So, in an effort to stave off a sensationalist techno-babbly conclusion on 21st centurial generation (h)Y(ped) communication and brain patterns, here is a list of webcomics that I’m currently catching up on, backwards and forwards:

Achewood - just about the best there is

Scary Go Round - think Press Gang meets Scooby Doo

Penny Arcade - if video games had newspapers, these guys would be the editorial cartoons

Overcompensating - semi fictional bio comic by the creator of Wigu (you wouldn’t think it, but Jeffrey Rowland just about is the zeitgeist)

Freakangels - Warren Ellis, print comic writer extraordinaire, writes about a strange future, Paul Duffield draws

Odysseus the Rebel - Steven Grant and Scott Bieser, with a very cool retelling of the Odyssey

Sinfest - This should be in newspapers
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George Michael has once again been arrested in a public toilet.

Pop singer George Michael has been cautioned by police after being arrested in a public toilet in London for possession of drugs.

What is with this guy and public toilets? I understand it if he’s just looking to get laid. But a drug arrest? Stupid.

More evidence that politicians and children are quite alike.

Mr Hockey approached Ms Hull in the chamber to reprimand her, but witnesses said Ms Hull told him to “f— off”.

You can’t really blame her for that though. Can you?

I watched water boil tonight. It was great! Very dynamic. It certainly doesn’t belong in the same category as watching paint dry, or watching grass grow.

David Foster Wallace has died.

I have not completed Infinite Jest, a vast work with endnotes galore. I do wonder whether his writings on suicide were self referential.

Sunday 31/08/08

John McCain showed great strength of character when he bowed to the conservative wing of his party and appointed Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as his VP nominee.

For weeks, advisers close to the campaign said, Mr. McCain had wanted to name as his running mate his good friend Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democrat turned independent. But by the end of last weekend, the outrage from Christian conservatives over the possibility that Mr. McCain would fill out the Republican ticket with Mr. Lieberman, a supporter of abortion rights, had become too intense to be ignored.

Palin has become the second woman to be nominated for the VP role by the two major parties, following Geraldine Ferraro’s unsuccessful run with Walter Mondale in 1984.

Monday 01/09/08

Manchester City became the richest football club in the world after an estimated £210m buyout from the Abu Dhabi United Group, which is linked to the oil rich Abu Dhabi royal family.

Abramovich’s wealth saw Chelsea overtake Manchester United and Real Madrid on the global rich list. Now City, a club that has been synonymous with glorious failure, can claim the title as their own, boasting the kind of wealth that led one source to say of the deal: “Imagine Chelsea, then times it by at least 10.”

The deal had immediate impact, with City capturing the signature of Chelsea-linked Robinho.

The club wasted little time in flexing their financial muscle yesterday, tabling almost £100m in bids for new players and clinching Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Robinho for a British record £32.5m when he had seemed destined for Chelsea.

It’s good to see that your petro-dollars are being well spent.

Tuesday 02/09/08

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by 25 basis points, the first reduction in the official cash rate since December 2001. The move had been signaled by the RBA in the lead-up to Tuesday’s meeting. The banks were quick to announce they would pass on the cut, despite prior comment that they would not necessarily do so.

Wednesday 03/09/08

Conservative heart-throb Sarah Palin wowed the Republic National Convention. Donations to the GOP jumped in the wake of her speech.

Will disaffected Hilary voters really switch camps due to the ticket-presence of an anti-choice, lifetime NRA member? Maybe Obama doesn’t look so bad to them right now.

Thursday 04/09/08

Childish snicker of the week:

Philippine Govt scraps MILF negotiation

Friday 05/09/08

With the media focused on Hurricane Gustav’s non-impact in New Orleans, the death of 500 people in Haiti didn’t get much of a run.

Saturday 06/09/08

The West Australian state election may result in the strangest coupling, a Labor and National Party coalition. The cost to Labor of the deal? 25% of West Australia’s mining revenue bonanza.

Renowned chair-sniffer and former Liberal Party leader, Troy Buswell, will retain his seat. Look out ladies.