Let me offer another short commentary on art & humor with some links to, you know, actual humor.
At some point during college I realized that, for me, there's no more pleasing juxtaposition in modern music than sunny (even saccharine, bubbly) melodies with dark, dark lyrics. Listen to example blurbs here and here.
Maybe it's not the most sophisticated formula in the world, but I enjoy it like a well-cooked meal. When they talk on Top Chef about properly balancing flavor contrasts, I am quite sure I have no idea how they go about achieving that. In the context of music, however, it makes perfect sense. Sadness can be sweet. Malice can be mocked. Two sides to every coin and blah blah blah.
In that vein, I offer links to three of my favorite discoveries on the internet:
The Nietzsche Family Circus, which pairs a random illustration from the cartoon strip with a quote from the philosopher. In my opinion, Bill Keane couldn't be this funny in a month of Sundays.
The Death of Garfield?, in which a short video explores a disturbing series of Halloween cartoons published in 1989. Spoiler Alert: in a subsequent interview with Jim Davis, Garfield's creator, he put the theories to rest. Garfield is alive. He just wanted to pen a few genuinely frightening panels. Mission accomplished. After asking family and friends what they feared, the most common reply was "dying alone." The result is fascinating. Kind of makes you wish these tortured souls would release their demons on a more regular basis. Indeed, in the harsh light of Charles Schulz's biography, the Peanuts gang is a much more complicated (and interesting) group of kids.
Garfield Minus Garfield. This one speaks for itself. Asia, do yourself a favor and ignore these links. They're probably not to your taste. And we all know that neither Garfield nor Snoopy can hold a candle to your real-life "furry Einstein." He is The Cute.
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