RETVRN

35. The reasoning is as follows: "asserting one's freedom" in art makes sense only referentially ― it is an act of destroying traditional artistic methods. After these crises of freedom ― they are often creative and enriching in their opposition to the fossilized relics of tradition ― it finds sustenance only in a parrotlike repetition of the original gesture, a self-parody that immediately becomes irrelevant.  One then finds oneself confronted with an increasingly weak, sad, and bitter involvement with the unconscious leavings of tradition. 

This is from Jacque Roubaud's introduction to the Oulipo Compendium, edited by Harry Mathews and Alastair Brotchie. 

Oulipo, sometimes styled as OuLiPo, is short for Ouvroir de Litterature Potentielle, "Society for Potential Literature." They attempted to get around the dilemma that Roubaud describes above by thinking of new restraints. The restraints were there to be overcome, to show that the artist wouldn't be defeated by them.

The group, with some obvious turnovers in membership, is still around. You don't hear as much about it. In the 20th century there was more of an appetite to play with and rearrange literary tradition, as demonstrated by Calvino (an Oulipian himself), Nabokov, and Borges. In the 21st the assumption seems to be that nobody reads anyway, so it will all fall on deaf ears.

I think this is too defeatist, though. Enrique Vila-Matas has continued. to play into the present. That's where the hope is.

Discrepancy

The weird thing is I'm not sure I laughed when I first read this Peanuts strip. But I did remember it. Now it's absolutely hilarious to me. 

Probably what cinches for me is that Lucy isn't just being mean. Well she is but she isn't. It's not like she's being deceitful when she asks Charlie Brown the question. She just sincerely doesn't get what constructive criticism is.

Shame about the big two

Pretty sure it's been years since I read mainstream comics. 

Not for the same reasons that a lot of others have. Many guys say that they gave up comics when they discovered girls. When I discovered girls I needed all the distractions I could get, so that's not me.

But at this point Marvel Comics is owned by the biggest media company in the western world. DC is owned by a company that would very much like to be that and is closer than most. And that creates a hierarchy. Writers and artists answer to editors. Editors are low on a chain of command that ultimately ends with executives and analysts. What they want is predictable product, so interesting ideas don't last long. 

Just bringing it up because I think a lot of things are like that now.

Surprise yapping

I was walking down a residential street today and all of a sudden heard this loud angry barking. Which startled me more than a little because I'd had no idea that there was even a dog nearby. The house had a fence in front, and shrubs growing in front of the fence. Which wouldn't have hidden a big dog, but this one was small. Had collie features but seemed about half the size. I'm thinking Sheltie. 

It always annoys me when dogs―whom I generally like―get territorial about the public sidewalk. But this one was nice to look at anyway.

The testing industrial complex

Have to admit to a certain ambivalence about the Bechdel test. Regarding its use as a serious metric, that is. It appears to have started as a one-off joke.

It's certainly not a bad thing to attempt a more multidimensional portrayal of women. Women are everywhere, and they behave in ways that media is generally not interested in.

The problem is that when you start giving credence to rules that are extrinsic to the work itself, where do you stop? One problem with the arts in general now is that so many decisions are made by people who may have good intentions (and certainly claim to) but are fundamentally uncreative. Overall we need less of that.

Wild zebras couldn't drag me away

It's a story I've only heard about in the past couple of years, and it's delightfully nutty. William Randolph Hearst imported a herd of zebras for his private zoo, because that's the kind of millionaire tycoon he was. Eventually he groaned "Rosebud!" for the last time and most of his animals went to legitimate zoos. But the zebras stayed. Eventually they got out and went wild. Now Southern California has wild zebras as part of its ecosystem, at least in a small stretch.

Introduced/invasive species can cause havoc, of course. But it seems like these zebras have kept in balance pretty well. It might be that they're filling a niche left by an insufficient number of wild horses and antelope.

That's how they getcha

You know those sad lost souls who combine the old bar of soap in the shower with the new one so they never have to throw out soap? Well I'm one of them. It just always drove me crazy to see soap dwindle down to a little sliver that either got thrown out or went down the drain. Hence the grafting.

The problem is that the manufacturers seem to have changed the formula. Now whether it's wet or dry soap just doesn't adhere to another bar of soap. I really doubt this is accidental. These people might force me to try body wash.