Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Kennel's Law of Internet Sarcasm

 I had better write this down so I can take credit for it:

Kennel's Law of Internet Sarcasm: Nothing you can post on the internet is so stupid that someone won't take it seriously.  

The consequences of this simple law are quite profound. It means that you have to be very careful about attempting to use sarcastic humor.  Ethnic jokes?  Racial humor? Usually not a good idea. 

It's too bad. From the time of William Shakespeare, Anglo Saxons have enjoyed making fun of themselves and laughing together.  I am not Anglo by blood, but I've grown up in America, so culturally I'm pretty much tuned in to their way of thought. I let you make fun of me, you let me make fun of you, and we are both jolly good fellows. We are willing to let our guard down with each other.  However, not all cultures are like that!! Some cultures assume you mean what you say, and insults are insults.  

In 1729, Jonathan Swift wrote "A Modest Proposal" in which he suggested that poor Irish people should sell their children as food to rich English people. This was satire. Swift's point was that the English upper class were way too rich and draconian in their approach to their Irish neighbors. They should have come up with some reasonable plan to help ease unfair economic conditions involving Irish people. Most readers got the point and were sympathetic to the cause of the oppressed Irish people, or at least put off by the draconian aristocracy mocked by Swift's satire.  

Nowadays, if this were published online, someone would think that Swift was seriously proposing that Irish children should be eaten by rich English people. This would be standard fare on AM radio.  Some people would get very offended, or worse, others would think it is a good idea. It's hard to imagine Democrats and Republicans agreeing on anything, so one party would probably wind up supporting it.  


   


Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Mustang to Paducah has Comedy, Suspense, Mystery, 60's Vibe

 


Mustang to Paducah is Raul Ramos y Sanchez's newest, and--in this reviewer's opinion--best work to date. What could be more iconic than a shiny new Ford Mustang in the 1960's? What if someone was willing to pay you and your best friend to drive it cross-country? Nothing could be finer, unless of course, you and your best friend are magnets for trouble, which is exactly the situation of two likeable young men in Mustang to Paducah. Sometimes the trouble is the law, sometimes it's about women and sometimes it's lawless thugs, but somehow they either find trouble or trouble finds them.     

Hopefully this book will be made into a movie, because it has that feel. If you liked The Fugitive, with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, you will like this book. However, this is not the story of an action hero like Harrison Ford, it's more like a comic duo Cheech and Chong, the two hippies from the 1960's.  This book is definitely a comedy. It is quick paced and fun.

This is also a period piece, so you may find yourself immersed in the 1960s like Forrest Gump. An interesting wrinkle in this story is that one of the characters, Nestor "Cruiser" Cruz, was born in Cuba but has lived in America since age 11 and considers himself fully Americanized.  But reminders of his heritage pop up in unexpected ways.

Has Hollywood ever made a comedy about the 1960s?  If not, why not?  Hurry the hell up before we die, how about?  Mustang to Paducah could be the perfect vehicle.