Archive for August, 2008

24 items.

Crow Flocks While Others Gaggle

by Seraphine Khorana on August 31st, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Crow Flocks While Others Gaggle

One of my favorite online artists is Susan at Phantsythat.
She makes wonderful drawings and often pairs little stories with them.

Dance children, dance to the beat
Wanna be a hippy cause life is so sweet…
Love is a good thing
Love is a good, love is a good,
Love is a good thing.
Lyrics from Sheryl Crow, Love is a Good Thing

Step out the front door like a ghost
Into the fog where no one notices
The contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
The angels get a better view
Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
Lyrics by Counting Crows, Round Here

p.s. I’m away for a few days.

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If you can’t hear me, yell a little louder

by Seraphine Khorana on August 29th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
If you can’t hear me, yell a little louder

I’m away for about a week.
I made comics ahead of time
so you won’t miss any. I’ll catch
up on your blogs when I get back.

In spite of all her faults, her name was so holy to him that it had never once passed his lips since her death, except in low whispers to himself, low whispers made in the perfect, double-guarded seclusion of his own chamber. “Cora, Cora,” he had murmured, so that the sense of the sound and not the sound itself had come to him from his own lips.
Quotation from Anthony Trollope, The Duke’s Children

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The Runaway Runway Bag

by Seraphine Khorana on August 28th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The Runaway Runway Bag

This happened of a friend of mine. She loaded her groceries,
then drove off with her handbag still on top of the car.
Which begs the question: What did her bag say about her?

In fashion it’s good not to have too many principles.
Quotation from Ines De La Fressange

Never offend people with style when
you can offend them with substance.
Quotation from Tony Brown

p.s. I’m away for a few days.

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Stoolie

by Seraphine Khorana on August 27th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Stoolie

I hate living a life of loose ends.

The first lesson of history is the good of evil. Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes better… Wars, fires, plagues break up immovable routine, clear the ground of rotten races and dens of distemper, and open a fair field to new men. There is a tendency in things to right themselves, and the war or revolution or bankruptcy that shatters a rotten system allows things to take a new and natural order.
Quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Conduct of Life

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Runway Magazine

by Seraphine Khorana on August 26th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Runway Magazine

Really good magazines know how to edit, right?
In fact, I prefer they embellish, polish and make
me sound brilliant. Like I really am. Sometimes.

Runway Magazine, August 2008 (I’ll be in the September issue)

Fashion is primitive in its insistence on exhibitionism, which withers in isolation. The catwalk fashion show with its incandescent hype is its apotheosis. A ritualized gathering of connoiseurs and the spoilt at a spotlit parade of snazzy pulchritude, it is an industrialized version of the pagan festivals of renewal.
Quotation from Stephen Bayley, Fashion: Being and Dressing

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The Bush Peso

by Seraphine Khorana on August 24th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The Bush Peso

San Francisco is one of the most popular arrival points into the United States. A million foreign travelers spend over eight billion dollars here, each year. It’s a city of great natural beauty and wonderful neighborhoods. But it also smells like urine, and that’s embarrassing.

Abercrombie & Fitch double their prices in the UK (The Fashion Police)

Once again, we’ve wasted time and money by dealing with the homeless backward. Too much energy has gone into deciding where we do not want them to be, and making sure that they would not be there.
Quotation from Anna Quindlen, Thinking Out Loud

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The unHappy Hookah

by Seraphine Khorana on August 22nd, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The unHappy Hookah

I hate being ignored, and I hate being treated as an object.

“Until memory is allocated, an object does not exist.”
A rule defining an Object in computer programming

The Devil’s Circus came to town. We watched the freaks arrive en masse.
When they paraded through our streets, we turned a blind eye as they passed.
Safe in the comfort of our homes, we all forget the need to fear.
Lyrics from Skyclad, Gammadion Seed

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If you value my advice, do what you want.

by Seraphine Khorana on August 21st, 2008
Posted In: Comics
If you value my advice, do what you want.

Today’s comic was suggested and written by Golfwidow. Everyone
needs validation. When we ask a friend for advice, we want an honest opinion.
We also want encouragement that we’re on the right path.

Golfwidow is an accomplished author. You can purchase her book here:
==> Getting My Think On by Sondra Harris. (P.S. This is not a paid ad)

Note to Nurse Myra: Yes, the header photography is (almost) always my work.
The lone exception was a red convertible “stock” photo used in one of my early comics.

Lastly, I did another “Guest Strip” over at Wireheads this week, starring Chase. Go see. Go see.

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Multi-Directional Optimization

by Seraphine Khorana on August 20th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Multi-Directional Optimization

I lose time. Seriously, check the couch cushions.
There’s a hole in my time pocket.

This is the closest you may come to resurrecting Time. (Time Travel Fund)
Umm. I’m not affiliated with, nor endorsing this “fund.” Buyer Beware/Shown here for amusement purposes only.

Time is of your own making;
its clock ticks in your head.
The moment you stop thought
time too stops dead.
Poem by Angelus Silesius

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Nobody’s Perfect (but me)

by Seraphine Khorana on August 19th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Nobody’s Perfect (but me)

When we ask “what can I do to make others like me more,”
what we’re really saying is “can I make myself a better person?”
Others can act as mirrors, but change comes from within.

Next time you feel like it’s just one of those days
When you just can’t seem to win
If things don’t turn out the way you plan,
Figure something else out
Don’t stay down, try again, yeah
Nobody’s Perfect, no no, nobody’s perfect
Lyrics from Hannah Montana, Nobody’s Perfect

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Posting Your Animated Shorts on YouTube

by Seraphine Khorana on August 18th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Posting Your Animated Shorts on YouTube

There is more content on YouTube than there
was on the entire internet eight years ago.
People do anything, and will post everything.

Sasquatch hunters claim hairy corpse is Bigfoot (msnbc)
“I slept with 75 men and got crabs” (YouTube)

Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, a top Russian officer, said Friday that Poland’s agreement to accept a battery of U.S. missile interceptors has put Poland at risk of attack, perhaps with nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.
Quotation from Douglas Birch, Crisis frays strands between Russia, West (More scary than crabs!)

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My Plethora Burns When I Pee

by Seraphine Khorana on August 17th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
My Plethora Burns When I Pee

This poem is inspired by John Savo, the Authoring Auctioneer,
who suggests most of our crap is… well, crap.
Plus I have pneumonia, so I’m feverish and taking antibiotics.

Funds for the Strip Club? (The Authoring Auctioneer)

It might be that some day I shall be drowned by the sea, or die of pneumonia from sleeping out at night, or be robbed and strangled by strangers. These things happen. Even so, I shall be ahead because of trusting the beach, the night and strangers.
Quotation from Janet Wood Reno (Janet Reno’s mother)

Maria: You should get out of these clothes immediately. You’ll catch your death of pneumonia, you will.
Inspector Clouseau: Yes, yes, I probably will. But it’s all part of life’s rich pageantry.
Quotation from Blake Edwards, A Shot in the Dark

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What Future?

by Seraphine Khorana on August 15th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
What Future?

Dear Government. I left my peace dividend on the coffee table
and now it’s missing. I was counting on that for my future.
P.S. Please send cash only. I no longer accept debit checks.

Human beings are the only creatures on earth
that allow their children to come back home.
Quotation from Bill Cosby

And my parents finally realise that I’m kidnapped and
they snap into action immediately: they rent out my room.
Quotation from Woody Allen

See also Wireheads, a great comic by Jim “Jimbo” Hillin. I recently did this guest comic for him. Buy his book.

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Born Beautiful, Scarred for Life

by Seraphine Khorana on August 14th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Born Beautiful, Scarred for Life

What makes a little girl ugly? It’s a trick question.
As Gandi said, Be the change you want to see.
All children are beautiful. All children are beautiful.

Chinese girl not ‘pretty enough’ for Olympic ceremony (Belfast Telegraph)

(Barbie) I’m an ugly girl, my face makes you hurl.
Sad I have it, I should bag it.
Acne everywhere, unwanted facial hair,
I’m a relation to Frankenstein’s creation.
(Ken) You’re so ugly. You disgust me.
Lyrics from Weird Al Yankovic, Ugly Girl (Barbie Girl Parody)

I’m not a pretty girl
that’s not what I do.
I’m no damsel in distess
and I don’t need to be rescued,
so put me down punk,
maybe you’d prefer a maiden fair,
isn’t there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere?
Lyrics from Ani Difranco, Not A Pretty Girl

I did a guest comic today for WIREHEADS! It’s one of my favorite comics. Go look! Go look!

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The Pet Peeve Collection

by Seraphine Khorana on August 13th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The Pet Peeve Collection

We all have pet peeves. We don’t like those who grunt,
drive, spit, argue, wink, fart, puke, beg, pick their noses,
those who are uglier or who are prettier than ourselves.

About Pet Rocks (Nostalgia Central)
About Pet Peeves (A la Carte)

“Since the law prohibits the keeping of wild animals and
I get no enjoyment from pets, I prefer to remain unmarried.”
Quotation from Karl Kraus, Half-Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths

Thank you Sue (Keep in Touch) for bestowing the “Brillante Weblog Premio-2008″ Award to Encore Seraphine. HUGS!

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Laughter has no Need of Proof

by Seraphine Khorana on August 12th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Laughter has no Need of Proof

“It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realized, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, and even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn’t sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it’s all you’ve got, that freedom is a universe of possibility. And the choice you make, between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.”
Quotation from Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (It’s the opening paragraph of the book)

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The Alternative to Natural Childbirth

by Seraphine Khorana on August 11th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The Alternative to Natural Childbirth

This is dedicated to Chase, who is due in 21 days
and to Blitzi who is due in November.
It was inspired by Dandellion, who suggests babies
come from storks and can be found in cabbage patches.

Should You Examine Your Own Cervix? (Fool Search)

She bit the towel and called on God
and I saw her life stretch out.
I saw her torn in childbirth,
and I saw her, at that moment,
in her own death and I knew
that she knew.
Poem by Anne Sexton, Pain for a Daughter

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Predatory Drones

by Seraphine Khorana on August 10th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Predatory Drones

You don’t suppose we’re trying to break down the door
Without first trying the knob to see if it’s unlocked? Nahhh.

FBI Most Wanted: Usama Bin Ladin (fbi.gov)
Military Use of Unmanned Aircraft Soars (Mindfully.org)

Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.
Quotation from George Carlin

This is my 400th Comic. Thank you for peeping, dear loyal Readers.
In 400, Goths were attacked by Huns. There were Franks in Holland, and rampaging Vandals.
400 is the square of 20. 400 is divisible by the sum of its own base 10 digits, making it a Harshad number.
In client error code, 400 ‘Bad Request’ means the request contains bad syntax or cannot be fulfilled.
400 was the serial number of the RMS Olympic, the Titanic’s sister ship.

Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.
Another Quotation from George Carlin

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The Hunt for Osama bin Laden

by Seraphine Khorana on August 8th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The Hunt for Osama bin Laden

Salem bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s oldest brother, was a founder of Arbusto Energy, an oil company owned by George W. Bush, who later became President of the United States. Salem died in a mysterious plane crash in Texas in 1988. Weird theories swirl around the relationships between the Bush and bin Ladens families, Arbusto Oil, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) and Paraguay.

Arbusto Oil and the bin Laden Connection (Information Clearing House)
Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) (American Patriot Friends Network)
New Economy of Terror (Centre for Policy Alternatives)

There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it.
Quotation from Alfred Hitchcock

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Poem by Maya Angelou, Still I Rise

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Yaa Saa’iha (Hello Tourist)

by Seraphine Khorana on August 7th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Yaa Saa’iha (Hello Tourist)

We are all tourists in life. Even if we don’t go anywhere,
life comes to us. We learn as we go. Hopefully, we grow.

Mass Observation -War & Terror (an interesting blog)

The finest clothing made is a person’s skin, but, of
course, society demands something more than this.
Quotation from Mark Twain

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture,
let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies. It would
be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.
Quotation from Albert Einstein

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Wearing the Chador

by Seraphine Khorana on August 6th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Wearing the Chador

Why does it matter what people wear? Our dress defines us as individuals and members
of society. It expresses who we are, to a some degree. When society mandates what is
acceptable to wear, it also limits full expression of a person’s individuality and creativity.

Iran police move into fashion business (BBC News, Tehran)
The Hejab in Iran: Don’t leave home without it (WorldTrek.org)
Celebrity Fashion Police Pull Over Tyra Banks (TheHollywoodGossip.com)

I have always dressed according to certain Basic Guy Fashion Rules, including: “Both of your socks should always be the same color.” Or they should at least both be fairly dark.
Quotation from Dave Barry

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Compulsory

by Seraphine Khorana on August 5th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Compulsory

I hate being told what to do. I believe in free choice. If you don’t
like what others do, but they aren’t hurting you, learn to deal with it.

Schoolgirls stopped from leaving fire because they weren’t wearing headscarves
(BBC News)
A closer look at the iconic headscarf (Fashion Section, The Independent)

There can be no assumption that today’s majority is “right” and the Amish and others like them are “wrong.” A way of life that is odd or even erratic but interferes with no rights or interests of others is not to be condemned because it is different.
Opinion by Warren Burger, Chief Justice, US Supreme Court

The lie of compulsory female heterosexuality today afflicts not just feminist scholarship, but every profession, every reference work, every curriculum, every organizing attempt, every relationship or conversation over which it hovers. It creates, specifically, a profound falseness, hypocrisy, and hysteria… in the queasy strobe light of that lie.
Qotation from Adrienne Rich, Blood, Bread and Poetry

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Secret Government Experiments

by Seraphine Khorana on August 3rd, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Secret Government Experiments

We know government has secretly tested the effects
of mustard gas and atomic fallout on American citizens.
Aren’t we also participating in large-scale social and
economic experiments? Democracy itself is being tested.

History of Secret Experimentation on U.S. Citizens (AboveTopSecret.com)
Vaccines & Medical Experiments on Children, Minorities, Woman and Inmates (NaturalNews.com)

The government is huge, stupid, greedy and makes nosy, officious and dangerous intrusions into the smallest corners of life—this much we can stand. But the real problem is that government is boring. We could cure or mitigate the other ills Washington visits on us if we could only bring ourselves to pay attention to Washington itself. But we cannot.
Quotation from P.J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores

Government is either organized benevolence or organized madness.
Quotation from John Updike, The Statesman Buchanan

10 Comments

Women Impressionists

by Seraphine Khorana on August 1st, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Women Impressionists

Some friends invited me to go. I’m not sure if it’s
possible to ‘accurately and objectively’ record reality
using only light and color (any more than it’s possible
using only sound and language) but I’m excited anyway.

The Exhibition: Women Impressionists (Legion of Honor)
Art of Berte Morisot, French Impressionist (WebMuseum, Paris)

“The Impressionists dissolved forms. They painted blurry “impressions” of objects modified by changing light and atmospheric conditions—drifts of fog, shimmering forest shadows, the glow of gas lamps on rainy streets.”
Quotation from Stephen Kern, The Culture of Time and Space

“The best work of artists in any age is the work of innocence liberated by technical knowledge. The laboratory experiments that led to the theory of pure color equipped the impressionists to paint nature as if it had only just been created.”
Quotation from Nancy Hale, Mary Cassatt: A Biography of the Great American Painter

12 Comments