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Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens
I know this is an obsession of mine, but isn't it always time to celebrate the dead-famous-people-in-Heaven genre of political cartooning?
Upset at the suggestion that a supporter of stem cell research might be born into eternal life? Cartoonistan turns out to be a pretty Calvinist place, where election is pre-ordained regardless of corporal works. Just look at the afterlives of Slobo and his erstwhile foes, with its disturbing suggestion that Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims alike are worthy of salvation:
Ron Bailey speculates that Heaven may be overrun with embryos.
Paradiso, the officially designated boring book of Dante's Divine Comedy.
Errol Flynn delivered (finally) from Purgatory.
The great Andy Robinson goes the other way, in Hellraiser.
amazingdrx|3.12.06 @ 12:32PM|#
You all better interview Rasa. She is your kind of
libertarian.
http://www.womanthouartgod.com/rasa.php
Mike Laursen|3.12.06 @ 12:53PM|#
Dante comes to L.A.: http://www.sjmusart.org/content/exhibitions/current/exhibition_info.phtml?itemID=223
|3.12.06 @ 1:20PM|#
amazingdrx, I'd say you've finally hit the point of being mired
in unwitting self-parody, except for the fact that you seem to have
actually started there.
I just wish Tim or someone would just block you and be done with
it.
|3.12.06 @ 2:09PM|#
Of course, my favorite Andy Robinson role was Elim Garak ("Plain, simple, Garak") on DS9.
|3.12.06 @ 2:45PM|#
It's good to know that Errol's doing better these days.
I've been worrying about him.
|3.12.06 @ 3:06PM|#
Just look at the afterlives of Slobo and his erstwhile foes,
with its disturbing suggestion that Catholics, Orthodox Christians
and Muslims alike are worthy of salvation
Or worthy of damnation, as indicated by their tails.
|3.12.06 @ 3:39PM|#
Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens
I thought that, that was Limbo. And you're supposed to be in
ultimate ecstasy just doin nothin all day, for an eternity of
days...It does seem easier to posit eternal ecstasy in that
situation rather than in a more active state which by inference, I
guess Heaven is supposed to be. For example, if you're into chess
and playing in Heaven, wouldn't you experience more bliss when you
pull off a brilliant combination as opposed to blundering a piece
away...What about sex? Sometimes it's like even better than the
last time, right? Hmmm, I think that the concept of maximum ecstasy
can't work.
Instead, advocates for the existence of Heaven need to posit a
"guaranteed range of ecstasy" or some such. And even that would
necessitate an imposed control on the mental process of the souls
resident in Heaven.
|3.12.06 @ 3:45PM|#
Superman doesn't fly like that! The cartoonist makes him to appear to be performing a swan dive. Blasphemer!
|3.12.06 @ 4:00PM|#
...I shoulda said: "Instead, advocates for the existence of Heaven need to posit a "guaranteed *minimum* of ecstasy" or some such."
|3.12.06 @ 4:24PM|#
Now, pinky, Kal-El has flown in that manner many a time. What
should really upst one is that Mrs. Reeve is being portrayed as
Supergirl, aka Kara Zor-El, who, in her original storyline*, was
Superman's cousin. Marriage between first cousins being a legally
enforced taboo shared by Krypton and several of the United States,
dressing a married couple up that way is creepy. Maybe not Donny
& Marie singing a love duet creepy, but still pretty
icky.
Kevin
(Silver Age comics geek.)
*Yes, there have been Supergirl reboots aplenty that have removed
the blood relative factor from the Superman Family, but I haven't
kept up with them all, and I hear they are a rat's nest of
retconnerry.
|3.12.06 @ 5:13PM|#
Forgive me for not keeping up to date on my Balkans presidents, but who is the third man in that ménage à trois in Heaven? I can see Slobo and Tudjman.
|3.12.06 @ 5:51PM|#
Ahh, some quick research has revealed that it is Alija Izetbegović, the late president of the Muslim Bosnians.
|3.12.06 @ 6:30PM|#
Yeah, Paradiso is the 20-minute drum solo of world literature. Still easier to get through than Faust though.
|3.12.06 @ 10:28PM|#
Yes, there have been Supergirl reboots aplenty that have
removed the blood relative factor from the Superman Family, but I
haven't kept up with them all, and I hear they are a rat's nest of
retconnerry.
The current Supergirl is his cousin, still. At least when last I
looked...
amazingdrx|3.12.06 @ 11:37PM|#
Maybe you could use your considerable inside influence with "Tim
or someone", huh geek? Hehey.
Maybe Rasa will pray with you?
|3.13.06 @ 12:27AM|#
...I shoulda said: "Instead, advocates for the existence of
Heaven need to posit a "guaranteed *minimum* of ecstasy" or some
such."
Perhaps there should be 72 virgins waiting for all those who
abstain from suicide bombing...
|3.13.06 @ 12:49AM|#
Sorry, Kev, that's not Supergirl. Supergirl - in all of her
incarnations - has worn a skirt. That costume is more evocative of
the Kristin Wells Superwoman, who was not related at
all.
Also the Golden Age Lois Lane repeatedly acquired temporary
superpowers and the moniker "Superwoman". So it's just fine, you
perv, you.
|3.13.06 @ 8:41AM|#
The way David Byrne delivers that line is the perfect meeting of
medium and message.
Heaven...
Heaven is a place...
A place where nothing...
Nothing ever happens...
Heaven...
Heaven is a place...
A place where nothing...
Nothing ever happens.
|3.13.06 @ 10:14AM|#
"The bar is called heaven.
Heaven, heaven is a place,
a place where nothing,
nothing ever happens."
Favorite pop culture reference in a long time. I know I'm in the
minority, but I kind of like the Paradiso. But Dante's a god, so
whatever.
|3.13.06 @ 12:31PM|#
24+ hours now and I'm still singing that damned song to myself. And I only know the "Heaven..Heaven is a place" part.
|3.13.06 @ 5:29PM|#
DRDan:
You are wrong about Kara's fashion history. Starting with her
takeover of the cover position in Adventure Comics from
The Legion of Super-Heroes, Supergirl morphed into the
Katie Keene of superheroines, switching from one
reader-suggested uniform to another. Some had skirts, but some
didn't. See:
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=23729&zoom=4 and
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=24723&zoom=4
Your Superwoman references are correct, though.
As for song lyrics..
In Heaven, Everything Is Fine.
In Heaven, Everything Is Fine.
In Heaven, Everything Is Fine.
You've Got Your Good Things,
And I've Got Mine.
Kevin
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