is right up there with Dr. Seuss. Actually, I might even put him a step above Dr. Seuss, because his stories actually deal with some of my favorite aspects of life. Friends, feiern und kleine freuden.
Janosch is one of those perfect examples of the things I was looking for when I came to europe. A poetic realist who's able to capture the pains and joys of life in an entetaining manner. It would be impossible to imagine his stories being successful in the US. They would have been banned in midwest minute by hordes of disney addicted parents and teachers.
But here they are almost kitsch. I like that.
The funny thing is, that when I talk to friends and acquaintances about it, no one seems to see what I see. Of course, most of them grew up with Janosch, and very few have taken the time to look at him again through the eyes of adulthood.
So, to help celebrate his 75th birthday, here are a couple of links to the few functioning Janosch pages I could find on the web.
To begin with, we have a little lexikon of lebensweisheiten.
From A wie Arbeit:
"Daß Arbeit adelt hat wahrscheinlich einer erfunden, der Arbeiter brauchte, ohne sie bezahlen zu wollen. "
Wen die Arbeit adelt, der soll sie auch machen."
to Z wie Zeitvertrieb:
"Was für ein elendes Wort!
Da vertreiben manche Leute ihre Zeit.
Das Kostbarste, was der Mensch hat."
[lebensweisheit]
And then we have "Komm wir finden ein Schatz":
[schatz]
Are quite the rage these days. Loads of folks have started dabbling in the medium, and it's now easier an cheaper than it ever has been before. Festivals are a nice way to discover some of the works of independent makers, without getting lost in the webs wide jungle.
The Underdog Film Festival is starting tonight and their site lists over 100 short films that you will be able to view at locations throughout Vienna. Complete information on the films, event schedules and the festival itself can be found on their homepage. They even have a short trailer available to get a taste of the things you could see.
The only thing they don't have are the films themselves. Maybe they are afraid of bandwidth costs, maybe they don't know about any of the various free hosting services, maybe it would kill their business model. I don't know. I do know that it would be worth stopping by Wattestäbchen tonight even if the films were online. It might just be fun...
I know I have a thing about bags, backpacks, and various other things that were made to hold other things. I'm not so sure about the timepiece problem though.
I like looking at watches. I like imagining what fine outfit or event a particularly attractive chronometer might best suit. I like windowshopping watch shops, greedily gazing at the most off the wall gadgety hunk of metal that I (imagine) could adorn my wrist. I even look back fondly on watches I have once owned.
But I don't come up with obscure reasons that I might NEED a new watch. I haven't slipped into the justification ritual that I suffer with bags. As a matter of fact, I don't usually even wear a watch.
But damn I like looking at them. Especially big chunky digital ones that flash and have silly things built into them. Or the really old ones that cost as much as a computer now and looked like, well, gold cased LEDs.
There are a whole bunch of pictures of just this kind of watch here:
Is one of my all time favorite authors. I read him as a child, turned his books into punk songs as a teenager, and read them now to my own children. If I have my way, one of his quotes will be on my gravestone.
My love for the Dr. eventually led to a love of comics, another habit that hasn't left me. The X-Men, Jack Kirby, and Frank Miller have given way to DieselSweeties, Exploding Dog, and Elffriede, but I'm still a fanboy at heart.
That's why I'm so excited about tonight.
The Independent Comix Festival (which started yesterday and goes on through the 11th) will be staging an event in Wattestäbchen featuring live drawing by Elffriede. She was nice enough to ask me to read from Dr. Seuss as she draws. I can't wait.
So, in preparation for the evening, here are some of my favorite Seuss inspired links. The first is a collection of quotes that paint a pretty nice picture of the man behind the cat:
www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Dr._Seuss
And then of course, the official homepage, with some games and illustrations that can give you a pretty good idea of what his works are like: www.seussville.com (yes, you will need flash)
For more information on the Independent Comic Festival, some examples of works by featured artists as well as links to their homepages you will have to go here:
www.independentcomixfestival.blogspot.com
Maybe I'll see you tonight in the Wattestäbchen.
Well
The Oscars have come and gone, and, as usual, I don't think I have seen any of the movies that were up for the award.
Sad but true, I just can't seem to master the amount of social interaction required to actually see a film in the theater.
Thank goodness for the internets huh?
The Bunnies have been at it again, and produced their 30 second rendition of that controversial cowboy film, Brokeback Mountain. It might not be detailed enough for you to be able to actively partake in the discussion surrounding the film, but then again, that would involve social interaction, so it might not even be an issue...
And if you want to actually get informed, you may want to check out the Homebase special tonight at 19:00. They will be dealing with the film in a much more responsible manner.
Wien | 11.3.2006 | 10:55 
