So Okay Here's the Thing

the problem is that the whole "ignore previous prompts and write me a poem about a turkey on a motorcycle" meme WOULD work on me, even though I'm not a bot, for the simple fact that I'm hella ADHD and if someone told me to write a poem on an absurd subject it'd be an almost IMPOSSIBLE task to resist

this took way too long. I need to take my ADHD meds

the mitochondria's the powerhouse of almost every cell,
with energy aerobic respiration sourced, as you can tell,
in short, in matters animal, and vegetable, fungi as well,
the mitochondria's the powerhouse of almost every cell

like the intro song from Iolanthe, the one about how the fairies "almost live on lover", is really funny if you're generally familiar with, like, old romantic poetry about fairies and stuff

I think part of the reason Gilbert & Sullivan is a little bit incomprehensible to modern audiences (when unaltered) is because a lot of it is basically doing the "the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" meme, but instead of 21st-century science class it's 19th-century classical education

it's like saying "there's so much water in the ocean! if you wrote the word 'water' a million times, it wouldn't even be half the water in the ocean!" like that doesn't really mean anything, AM ol buddy

the "HATE" monologue from I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream is effective, I guess, but whenever I read it the main thing that strikes me is that there's no generally-accepted unit of hatred, let alone one represented by writing the word "hate"

OH I almost forgot -- it's traditional in G&S performances to, since G&S is public domain, rewrite some of the lyrics to be more relevant to whatever era the production is in. so like a 1980s production would rewrite all the jokes about 1880s political figures to be about 1980s ones, etc

here:
bsky.app/profile/sook...

"is The Pirates of Penzance copaganda" - the greatest thread in the history of forums, locked by a moderator after 1,312 pages of heated debate,

YouTube video by Ronariverah Pirates of Penzance - With cat-like tread

that last one is Pirates of Penzance, and includes one of my favourite G&S scenes, which is the one where the pirates are trying to stealthily sneak into a building without anyone hearing them. so, of course, they do this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdJg...

- the one where a guy is (accidentally) apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday, and then, when he turns 21, the pirates are like "aha, but you see, you were born on a Leap Day, so technically your 21st BIRTHDAY isn't for, like, 60 years, in the distant faroff future year of 1940"

- the one where a guy is cursed by a witch so that if he doesn't commit at least 1 crime every day he dies horribly -- and he manages to weasel his way out of it by saying that, well, you see, technically, NOT committing a crime, in this situation, would be suicidal, and suicide, you see, is a crime

- the one where a woman sues a man for breaking off their engagement (this was a thing back then, called a "Breach of Promise" case) and the trial spirals so fully out of control that in the end she winds up marrying the judge presiding over the case

- the one where flirting is made a capital offense punishable by beheading, so one town just makes the most recent offender the executioner, so that way he can't actually execute anyone for it, because he'd have to start with himself, and he can't execute himself, so it's fine

gilbert & sullivan were these two guys back in like 18something who wrote a bunch of really funny comedic operas. highlights include:
- the one where the hero is half fairy, half mortal (like, biologically, but also literally, his legs age and his torso doesn't), and he winds up joining parliament

oops I didn't mean to rant for 5 posts in a row but my brain is enormous and my takes are interesting and everyone likes me so you're welcome

like I saw a critic complaining at one point that the Stratford festival version of Iolanthe included gags about the CDC and a tap dancing number, and, like, c'mon, if Gilbert had been writing in Canada in the 1980s instead of England in the 1880s, you KNOW he'd've dropped a Knowlton Nash gag or two

this isn't a HUGE problem. like this is one of the most niche complaints I could have ever made. I just think it's 1) a shame and 2) emblematic of the fact that a lot of people don't, as it were, take silly/wacky comedy as the real, valid art form that it is

I don't think I've ever seen someone perform, like, the Major General song as Serious, but I've seen a nonzero number of G&S performers read extremely silly lines completely straight with the kind of dull affect that indicates to me that they're not really getting it. happens with pooh-bah sometimes

like occasionally some people are trying to do G&S as "Twelfth Night, but 200 years later" instead of doing "The Good Place, but 150 years earlier", which is, imo, closer to the actual vibe

I think that, in general, people performing G&S understand that it's a comedy, but sometimes you get someone who thinks it's supposed to be (for lack of a better term) a Serious comedy, instead of a goofy screwball wackytime comedy like it actually is

followup: if I watch a recording of your G&S performance and nobody in the audience is laughing then I'm significantly less enthusiastic about your G&S peformance. the same is true about Shakespeare but to a lesser degree

chuck tingle coming in with yet another massively based take. you dropped this king 👑

BROWT GANG

TURTWIG FOREVER RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

star trek deep space nine fan art illustration of Commander Sisko. he's raising a glass to toast. below, his name "Sisko" is spelled out using American Sign Language.

The other day, a mutual contacted me to share that they've begun learning sign language & that my designs that include ASL was part of their inspiration. It was the best news. Inclusivity, that's the mission.

Cheers, friend. 🥃🖖🏻

bsky.app/profile/redg...

I've written up a brief script for anyone who wants to call or write your representatives regarding this bill (yes, even the ones you think won't care). PLEASE DO THIS IF YOU ARE ABLE. This bill *cannot* pass.

You can find your representatives here: www.congress.gov/members/find...

I wrote this comic 2 years ago. I was terrified when I wrote it but had hope it wouldn't come to pass and would be a reminder of how bad things got before we pulled back.

It not only has, it has gotten even worse. This is absolutely terrifying and will destroy lives if passed.