Häxan (Witchcraft Through the Ages), 1922

Dracula Cha Cha Cha

Bruno Martino - Dracula Cha Cha Cha

Ruta Lee - Johnny Staccato

Resistance is Futile!

The Colonel first unboxes Kommissar, The People's Game. Said to be a sort of communist Monopoly without Free Parking or buildings or rent or an end.


Everybody equal. Nobody wins. Nobody loses. In theory here you can win by cashing in 500 rubles and flying out of the socialist homeland. In fact everybody sticks right around the 300 rubles they start out with. It took massive cheating on the part of the comrade game kings to throw the game to this capitalist roader.


Humbug.


Cold War nostalgia gives way to 3 dimensional wackiness as we crank up the It from the Pit.


Pure mechanized plastic goof.


Attrition is high as the treasure hunters hug the chasm wall in fear and trembling.


Survival of the most purple.


Then the evening's existential entry.


Our four bogus dicks pry the clue cards loose.


You know, Kommissar looked like it had never been game tested and this one looks like it wasn't censored.


Alfie is trying his best to ignore the proceedings.

The Spider's shake

Musik for the Kitchen - Blitzkrieg Bop

What is to be done with Big Bird?

I noted, when Ryan was raised to the ticket, that the question of socialism would be central to the campaign (Lessons to be Learned). How, then, does this momentous topic find itself boiled down to the figure of Big Bird?

In selling himself to the mass voter, as during the debate, the Republican candidate is tasked with dissembling. While avoiding discussion of the disassembly of the social insurance network he is permitted, for the purpose of demonstrating his reactionary bona fides, to attack some isolated target or other. PBS has long been a favorite of the Republicans because of the intersection of ideology and public funding. It is, moreover, well outside the front lines of the current political-economic crisis where the real money is at stake.

Meanwhile, the President is left out of our little puppet show. As the Republican candidate observed, “High-income people are doing just fine in this economy. They’ll do fine whether you’re president or I am.” The citizens of Sesame Street, like their comrades around the world, need to come up with their own strategy for the days ahead.

Ancient Egyptian dice

Ancient Egyptian dice, a photo by dmmaus on Flickr.