In Praise of The Body Beautiful

This "End The Olympics" banner is released by LMWN on an attributions, creative commons license, use it as you will

We at Little Man, What Now? have never been opposed to exercise and sports. It is true that in the 19th century the staff team was more of an explorative bent for exercise (Richard Burton and Captain Oates were both on the staff) than a competitive one, but Adam Hawks himself was regarded as the greatest curler of his age. In the more recent years of the early 21st century, LMWN became one of the leading lights in British Snooker blogging.

And yet The Olympic Games has always been treated as an object of suspicion by this publication, ever since it's inception in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian war. The Olympics' modern themes: nationalised competition, the political impartiality of sport, the cultural supremacy of Ancient Greece, amateurism, drug-free bodily perfection, and the emphasis on grandiose theatrics all have their roots in the traditions of German Naturism and early fascism that was the focus of the 1936 Berlin Olympic games.

The events theatrics as established by Leni Riefenstahl and Joseph Goebbels are arguably the single greatest cultural hangover from the politics of the Third Reich. And following WWII when the Olympics became a proxy battle in the Cold War, these traditions served to lubricate the tensions between the two regimes, the apolitical aspect of the events allowed the daily politics of the era to be swept under the carpet for a festival of nationalism (which couldn't be more political). Not to over-egg the pudding, but when it's workaday (such as Athens or Syndey) these traditions are rather silly. When these issues become politically charged, as they are at present, they become altogether more menacing.

We are firm supporters of international sport, and believe there is a place for a major event showcasing athletics worldwide. It is simply that this event should not be a continuation of the discredited Olympic Games (and a tax rebate for The 2012 Games wouldn't hurt).

And so, today we begin a minor movement... Any blogger who chooses to place the banner presented above on their page will be linked to on the following list:

End The Olympics (a low key campaign)

Little Man, What Now?

Happyacres

Freeborn John
Contra Niche

Don't take yourself so seriously

It is always amusing when people are so tied-up in their own political obsessions and enmities that they fail to notice when something is quite obviously a wind-up. Take for example this post from the rather tedious Orcinus blog. The disdain for wacky US evangelicals would be justified if it wasn't for the fact that the article (and website) in question wasn't so obviously a joke:

Meanwhile, no one appears to have made the trip upwards from Capitol Hill. Beltway observers had speculated that dozens of high-profile leaders, including President Bush and Representative DeLay, would be raptured, possibly setting off a complex battle over succession within the halls of power.

Quote of the Day

“Guido is sceptical about multi-authored blogs. They have to have a tight-focus to be successful. Waffling about anything and everything doesn't work” — Guido Fawkes

As William Gibson would say, “O well.”

John K. is a Genius and The World Should Shout His Name!

Images from A Yard Too Far in Ren And Stimpy

John Kricfalusi is the original animator and creator behind Nickelodeon legend The Ren And Stimpy Show. I won't go in to the long story of his biography (in which dismissal from successful projects seems to play a repeat role) suffice to say that he has built himself a reputation as the Francis Ford Coppola of animation... A genius of high standing who hasn't been allowed near a substantial budget since his days of equal parts folly and glory (and Nickelodeon then ran his Ren and Stimpy project into the ground).

He now writes a blog called all kinds of stuff, that uses his expert knowledge of the process of animation to dissect Golden Age cartoons and show the real mechanics of the form. This brings out a lot of information that wouldn't be at all obvious to the layman, and show in equal parts a passion for the ambition of the original form, and a love for the under-utilised potential that animation still has.

He's recently been on an incredibly hot streak of content, discussing virtuoso animators Bob Clampett and Tex Avery's use of what he calls "animation grammar" and I direct you his way with a few choice links:

On Tex Avery's use of The Take.
On Bob Clampett's use of The Take.
On The Ages of Cartoon History.

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Two Blogs

Just a quick post to recommend two blogs I've been meaning to mention for quite a while:

Arthur Silber's Once Upon A Time... and William Grigg's Pro Libertate.

Day after day, both men tirelessly and heroically document the United States' transformation from a republic into an empire (with all the filthy corruption, torture and tyranny that entails) whilst quietly facing personal stuggles of their own. Their efforts fill me with shame at my own lack of writing on England's own descent. Merry Christmas Arthur and William, I hope the New Year brings a reversal of liberty's fortunes in your country and my own.

In Condemnation of British Vulgar Libertarians

It has now been 20 hours since the verdict was announced in the Jean Charles De Menezes court case, concerning health and safety law that everyone knows is the only way to raise an issue of dereliction of duty caused by collective hysteria.

Within 20 minutes of the guilty verdict Shami Chakrabarti, the face of pressure group Liberty, issued an article on The Guardian's Comment Is Free on the matter. Much as being the public defender of liberty in the UK must be a difficult task, Ms Chakrabarti never seems to miss-step. This is arguably the most important issue for watching-the-watchmen of the last 6 months, and she treated it accordingly.

Now, almost a day later, the major libertarian hubs of the UK blogosphere - Samizdata and the Libertarian Alliance blog - groups who lay claim to the heritage of Paine, Mill, Popper and Spencer, have yet to post a single article on the topic. While I know this is a complex issue - and specialist law - and that these sites do not have salaried contributors, I think it says a lot that these sites are more interested in discussing chemistry sets, and Boris Johnson's recommendations for US President than the police shooting civilians in the head, seven times at point blank range.

As a centrist libertarian I would like to take the opportunity to say that, were libertarians to get into a position of power, I would not endorse the tax and Tory obsessed vulgar libertarians of Samizdata and The LA to even run the home office. Their eyes, however idealistic, are firmly off the ball and glued to the tax deductions they see on their paychecks. Recent contibutors choose to discuss Italian sports cars, dangerous environmentalists trying to force high taxes and wealth redistribution on them, and so on. Is it any wonder that even natural sympathisers like LMWN have less respect for them than they might?

I wait with interest for the comprehensive article, on either of these sites, that will prove me wrong.

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Too little, too late Mr De Havilland.

He's Back

He's been away so long I thought those coffee jar shelves must have finally collapsed on top of him. But no, he's back and with news of a new blog venture...

Harry Pooter and the Updated Blog

"...you see Harry," said Dumbledouche, "the thing you must understand about fuggles is that they don't understand the nature of blogging. A fuggle thinks that he can update his blog only once a week or even once a month."

"lol," said Harry Pooter, "fuggles r n00bz."

"Yes indeed Harry," said Dumbledouche, smiling at the youngster's amusing turn of phrase, "some fuggles believe that RSS will save them from having to post frequently, but RSS is a dark magic not understood by most of their readers. We wizards know that to retain and build an audience, we most post regularly, even if that post is merely a link to a picture of a cat in an amusing situation."

"rofl," said Harry, "cat bloggers are lamerz!"

Dumbledouche laughed. "Oh yes, quite true young wizard. But to many people, blogs are like the crack-cocaine that Mr Snake confiscated from you and your young friends last term. As you know, the quality of the crack isn't as important as getting a regular supply. If the dealer halts his supply then the addict will look elsewhere. You remember how Ron had to start buying his shit from the Snuff-n-puff House when supplies in his own house dried up? So you see, ANY blog posts are better than none at all. Even this load of derivative old rubbish."

"I like crack a lot!" said Harry, his eyes glazing over.

"Of course you do," said Dumbledouche, putting his arm around Harry's shoulder, "now lets see if I can't find some in my study."

Get Well Soon

Brian's blog seems to have gone down. We at Little Man sincerely hope he gets it back up and running soon and that it doesn't go the way of his previous blogs.

Our Journal Joins The Illustrious Ranks of MySpace.Com

In the aims and values of our ever increasing reach, Little Man, What Now? has been endeavouring to find new markets and avenues for publicity. It is therefore with the greatest pleasure that I introduce our MySpace page:

Little Man, What Now? On MySpace, Beta Version

It is currently in beta, has numerous errors throughout its template, and is a hideous formatting hack (described by Tobias as "having the air of newsprint hanging from a toilet-roll dispenser"). Nonetheless, it has been given the vote of the trustees, and is thus formally part of The Little Man Foundation.

Your "friendship" is welcomed with open arms.

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Doctors Again

I know I've already mentioned Doctors recently, so I just want to say in advance that I haven't got a particular bee in my bonnet about them (well any more than I have about anyone else). One of the contributors to this blog is training to be a physician and he seems a thoroughly decent chap.

OK, now that's out of the way, on with the ranting. Dr Rant has criticised The Devil for his take-down of The British Medical Association who, as usual, are trying to get the Government to