This will hurt me...

In respect to my feminist friends out there scattered over the globe, I thought I'd post of pair of lady-friendly comics today. The lady above - courtesy of the Married to the Sea - reminds me of both Henry and Ezra, who despite lacking the requisite criteria for womanhood, are both fine young ladies . Yes, we've embraced renowned crackpot feminist academic Judith Butler's notion of Gender Trouble in this house. I particularly like Lucy's justification at the end of the strip below. There should be more of it. As I've said before, I consider Lucy something of a personal role model. Indeed, I consider myself a great example of a strong woman .

I really do like this one a lot. For a global powerhouse beloved of children and adults, Peanuts could be as bleak as anything Ingmar Bergman could conjure up.

If you've noticed the header on the blog here, you'll no doubt be shocked to hear that I'm a big time Peanuts fan. Actually, you won't as I've blogged on it before and I know everyone takes a lot of notice of , and puts a lot of stock in , what I have to say. I’m like Moses in that regard. So yesterday evening I discovered that the entire catalogue of Charles M. Schulz's incomparable Peanuts is now available online through Comics.com . How very apt, thought I, as I am currently knee deep in David Michaelis' meticulous (not to mention awfully weighty tome, Schulz and Peanuts: a biography . Delving into every aspect of Sparky Schulz's life – and I do mean every aspect, wink wink , nudge nudge – Michaelis has delivered a must read for any Peanut nut (see what I did there? I don’t even try, it just happens. Genius!) Needless to say, do yourself a favour and get your grubby little hands on this book and set aside some time, at 650+ pages, you'll n...

Lest you all think that Hobart is a forever happy, neat and tidy utopia, I felt it timely to inject a little urban grit back into things. This lovely shot was taken not three minutes walk from the city centre, somewhere between the needle and syringe exchange and Spotlight , the home of all things fabric and craftware. This is a spot in a nice little carpark that I like to stop with Henry and lecture him on the poor behaviour of some people. The title today is a quote from the wise words of Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally. I've blogged before about her brother, but I quite like Sally too. One of the things I like best about her are her 'new philosophies' that were frequently developed in the latter years of the strip. Generally, Sally's 'new philosophies' went along the lines of "Who cares?" or "How should I know?" I think that they reached their zenith when she declared that her new philosophy would be the word "No". This...

I am going to be totally honest with you and admit that I think that Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts, should be regarded every bit as highly as any other creative genius that you could name. Forget the never-ending line of Snoopy merchandise for a moment (and I like Snoopy, don't get me wrong). But go back and read the comic strips, especially the firts twenty years, and in it you will find that Peanuts is right up there with Fyodor Dostoevsky in exploring the bleakness of the human condition. Without doubt, the very first strip set the tone that was to follow (as usual, click to enlarge): Although Schulz softened somewhat in the latter period of Peanuts, certain elements remained constant. The most obvious of these lay in the fortunes of Good ol' Charlie Brown. Again, of all literary characters, Charlie Brown may well be my favourite. Think Yossarian, only through a Russian existentialist lens. Perhaps the one constant in Charlie Brown's life is pain. His most appealing...