I hope this cartoon from 2002 will not appear glib, but I’m certain I’ve never drawn anything appropriate to the events in Paris. Humorists are hard pressed when widely felt tragedy occurs, when neither business as usual nor silence is comfortable. I have spent time in France, including two months as a guest of the House of Authors at the International Institute of the Comic Strip in Angoulême. Those titles, by the way, are my crude English translations, to save us all some extra trouble. I have never met anyone from Charlie Hebdo, but I have met many French cartoonists, and they were all very gracious. I am thinking of my friends there, many of whom I am sure do have direct connections to the victims. It is hard to imagine the shock and the grief being experienced by the large and vibrant community of French cartooning. My association with them is tenuous, to be sure, but I personally am saddened with them. And I do admit trying not to think about it too much.
La vie et la mort
By Jimmy Johnson
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70 responses to “La vie et la mort”
Oui.
Jimmy, there is certainly a connection. I thought of you when it happened, assuming that you may not have personally have known them, but you a way you do know them. Praying for peace and change of hearts.
Very touching tribute… Thanks, Jimmy…
Not only for the current tragedy but for all of life. Sometimes we just have to laugh.
Love, Jackie
Thanks, Jimmy.
I have to agree with Stephan Pastis on this one: “If a little cartoon can threaten your belief system, get a new belief system.”
Beautiful music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqF29CgTV4
This long preceded Roberta Flack’s version which is in itself stunning. Ewen McColl wrote it as a folk song but in my opinion it is most beautiful love song ever written, Peter Nero’s hit from it was best instrumental and everyone else who has sung it simply follows Roberta Flack.
Every love has a “song” or should. This was “our song”.
Did I mention I long, long ago was a PBS college “disc jockey” when we turned the records by hand, started them on a turn table by hand, did our own scripts spontaneously. And could play only classical and easy listening music. Never stopped loving music.
Love, Jackie
OK, I may never learn to link a song to here! I am coming to Alabama and have Mark teach me how!
That was Peter Nero and “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, Mark or Ghost! You might put Roberta Flack’s vocal on another link so it skips moderation!
Love, Jackie (who isn’t even going to try Roberta)
Better report today, Jackie. You’re smart; you’ll be fine as long as you keep your focus. Easier said than done right now, I know. But it will get better, at least somewhat. Trust me.
Qui, Jean ma cher; another version of that is “If you want me to respect your beliefs, get better beliefs.”
I have a friend whose signature line is “You can only claim the moral ground upon which you stand.”
He retired from Air Force Academy where he taught theology to Air Force’s chaplains. A wonderful man I respect and adore.
Love, Jackie
I do some part-time news reporting for my small town newspaper that publishes 3 days a week. Lately I have seriously honked some people off writing about the local city council and I get a little concerned every once in a while, but while political cartoons bite some times I can not even imagine a cartoonist being targeted because of their work. SMH.
Speaking as one who has had an entire ROTC unit protest my early views of Viet Nam (very conservative) saying we had no business over there and an entire fraternity march past my dorm with their cannons in tow and burn me in effigy, I have a faint knowledge of what it feels like to tick people off with views, satirical and otherwise.
Events of today, whether home grown as in St. Louis area riots, the Boston bombings, the Murrah Building bombing, the Twin Towers, the shooting of cartoonists. This is just not within my brain’s grasp. As my younger daughter is fond of saying, “They drank the Koolaid.”
By the way, I dreamed about the KA fraternity last night for some really strange reason. Really strange. All in blazers with crested pockets. Not full uniform. I will hasten to say I support the good things fraternal organizations stand for but reserve the right to ridicule some of the absurd.
Love, Jackie
If you are not looking back – posted this one page back
Debbe:
You have 10X the birds we did. And the birds don’t come back to full production after ammonia
poisoning –
Jackie:
Wait awhile before coming to the Mayo – I think they have more snow than we do.
Honey works pretty good also – used to have to rub it on our cats gums if she got
low sugar. (She was diabetic – so we did the whole insulin thing)
A little breeze and over or under 0* depending on what side of the house.
Population studies were done with lab animals – after a certain density they started turning
on each other – is the earth population density reaching that point?
Just wondering?
*******PERSONAL NEWS FLASH ******
I’ve just been called by my local transplant center to come in for blood tests (cross-match)
for a POSSIBLE KIDNEY TRANSPLANT!
This is the first time I have been called by the local center. In the past 6 years, I have had 8 other calls for a possible kidney. Those were all in Dallas/Ft Worth and required 3+ hours drive there, about 5 hours waiting for results, and then a very long 3+ hour drive home when I wasn’t able to take the kidney.
Please pray, if you are so inclined, that this kidney might finally be the match and that I will be allowed to proceed. I don’t have to wait at the hospital since it is local, but may not get any results until later tonight.
OF due 1155-1215 CST. Webcam roaming among the other geysers now. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
Yes David! Prayers for you – and the donor’s family.
Old Bear, I have to tell you what I bought myself for Christmas and for my mom of course.
BeeKeeping For Dummies, also how to build your own hives and a really good book on beekeeping, with intent of putting hives out by creek near the gardens. We always had honey in the comb in the old days on our “plantation” and mom talked about it so much.
I thought the honey bees and honey would serve multiple purposes.
Oh, and keeping chickens too. I was going to build or buy a small hen house for a few chickens to entertain my mother with collecting eggs. May still do that one, helper had chickens and knows how to care for them.
Love, Jackie
David, may you get your kidney, and God bless you and the donor. I cannot donate because of my diseases or I’d offer you one of mine. Neither could Mike because of cancer but we would have.
Love, Jackie
David: Blessings, and prayers.
“If a little cartoon can threaten your belief system, get a new belief system.”
Among the would-be theologs [that includes me] that I run into, it seems that the most vigorously defended views are often the least believable, sometimes the most trivial*, and, I suspect, the shakiest in the minds of those proclaiming said views. *E.g., does Elohim, who apparently created a self-operating universe about 13+ BYA, now populated by billions of galaxies and perhaps thousands of life-supporting planets, really care about what meat I eat, and whether I attend services weekly. What’s a week on a life-supporting planet that rotates on its axis every 6.4 of Earth’s hours?
Perhaps jihadists are different. The 9/11 mob must have really believed a slew of virgins awaited them in paradise, as perhaps did the murderers in Paris. One also wonders at a faith that obsesses about deflowering virgins. Maybe that’s because, at 85, I wouldn’t know what to do with one. Teach her some genetics and population dynamics, maybe.
“Population studies were done with lab animals–after a certain density they started turning
on each other–is the earth population density reaching that point?” There is also the question whether intelligently and peacefully or not, has it reached the point where there are so many of us that we cannot sustain our numbers in the long run, say the next million years or so? IMO, given the finiteness of Earth’s resources, we’ve long passed that point. [I’ve probably suggested this before.] I’m guessing that, at a considerably lower standard of living than most of us in The Village now enjoy, Earth can indefinitely support a human population of about a billion, roughly 1/8 of the current population. Good luck!
Peace, emb
OF revving up. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
Andy Marlette (nephew of the late, great Doug) did a good column on the recent situation and a cartoon featuring a pen labeled like Woody Guthrie’s famous sticker on his guitar, “This machine kills fascists.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/07/andy-marlette-cartoonist-column/21394565/
David: They are doing amazing work with transplants. My SIL has been making slow progress since her Liver/Kidney transplant September 30. She was not in great shape before the operation, but is making progress. Praying for you.
Lordy, I miss Doug Marlette!
You got it, David. And yes, God bless the donor, too.
sand, Kirby Delauter (where have I heard that name?) apparently has had a political, not to mention legal, epiphany.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/01/07/kirby-delauter-apologizes/?tid=hybrid_alt1_strip_3
Does anyone else think he seemed mighty thin-skinned for someone who has chosen to enter politics?