Watchmen and Petroglyphs
Mar. 10th, 2009 04:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
guppiecatI was going to post something here about Watchmen, which I've not seen yet. I am a bit miffed at all of the people that are complaining about the fact that it had Nixon in it, or the fact that it's based on 1980s culture, or the fact that it's a hetero-normative story... because, you know, 1980s culture WAS hetero-normative and to change the aspects of the story that made it what it was would make it untrue to the original story, which would piss off an entirely different group of people.
I mean, it's like me complaining that Pride and Prejudice doesn't adequately reflect the plight of the young gay men in Sierra Leone. It's entirely factual, a fair criticism of what a work of social commentary should do and doesn't. However, the big thing to remember is that Pride and Prejudice isn't written to comment on OUR culture. The culture it comments on is gone, and if you expect it to be other than it is, you might want to do something else with your time.
I suggest watching Edward 2, Alice or reading Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote by Jorge Luis Borges.
Of course, I don't have time to post something like that, so instead you get petroglyphs from the Valley of Fire State Park. (set here)
This group is a bit different. The first section here are some "big picture" shots of the petroglyph areas, some of them seriously edited to make the glyphs more readable.
The second section requires a bit more explanation. I spent four years getting a degree from Grinnell College. Grinnell graduates a whole lot of people with sociology and anthropology degrees. Though my degree happened to be in Physics, and I never took a mainstream sociology or anthropology class, I figure that just being in that environment for four years qualifies me to translate the glyphs. :)
Once upon a time, there was a little goatthing that had managed to become king of the hill by not only standing her ground but by also drawing from stone, the most impressive sword ever seen in the southern Nevada deserts. (Which, honestly, didn't take much as most of the native peoples there used spears and didn't do much metalworking at all.)
However, the little goatthing (whose name has been lost to time... let's call her Wanda) wasn't happy. She had managed to achieve quite a lot of power and fame. She was the fastest of all the goatthings, and the most intelligent, but try as she might, she just didn't have the opposable thumbs necessary to hold onto the massive sword. That lack prevented her from defending the other goatthings against the constant invasions of the snakecritters. It also made it hard to operate the DVD remote, but she had come to terms with that, and mostly just read books instead.
Needing advice, she went to visit The Wise Woman On The Hill. The hill was of a fairly low grade, so the journey was an easy one. The wise woman was unable to help Wanda, as she wasn't in the HMO's network, so she referred Wanda to the Two Brothers of Dubious Advice, who lived just down the block.
Two Brothers of Dubious Advice, who may not be as wise as The Wise Woman On The Hill (but, after all, two heads are better than one), listened to Wanda's plight and suggested that go ask Matilda, the maiden ant.
Matilda had been gifted by the gods with all possible knowledge, but cursed by the same irritating-yet-literarilly-necessary gods with the inability to speak. She listened to Wanda, and after confusing numerous gestures that caused Wanda to bring her spaghetti and ladders, managed to convey that Wanda needed to make a wish on the magic conch shell.
(It is really quite difficult to carve Spaghetti on rock.)
(Spaghettoni is difficult as well.)
After a minor and unimportant battle of wits with a palm tree (the answer was "One of its legs are both the same."), Wanda managed to win the Magic Conch Shell.
Wanda started for home.
After a short game of Archery...
Wanda continued on her journey.
She stopped to rest at a Church.
While she was sleeping, The Evil Boogiecactus crept up to steal the Magic Conch Shell. Thinking quickly, Wanda blew upon the shell, and...
Wanda got her wish!
She was also cursed with a foot, 'cause the irritating-yet-literarilly-necessary gods do stuff like that.
Now able to wield the sword, she was able to chase away The Evil Boogiecactus, as well as his companions, the Sad Centipede and Mortal Anemone. (This is why there are no anemones in Southern Nevada to this very day.)
Wanda ran away from the foot curse, and since she was the fastest of the goatthings, was able to escape. However, she ran straight into a nest of snakecritters! (OH NOES!)
The snakecritters attacked her from both sides, but due to her new opposable thumb, she was able to wield the sword and kicked, well, the middle-to-lower portion of the snakecritters' spinal anatomy.
She ate the losers, and went home to protect her people and live forever in legend.
But, somewhere deep in the middle of the desert, a cursed foot still creeps, looking for victims. This is why it is unwise to journey into the desert alone. (If you DO decide to do this, be sure to take along a lot of water. Feet hate baths.)
I mean, it's like me complaining that Pride and Prejudice doesn't adequately reflect the plight of the young gay men in Sierra Leone. It's entirely factual, a fair criticism of what a work of social commentary should do and doesn't. However, the big thing to remember is that Pride and Prejudice isn't written to comment on OUR culture. The culture it comments on is gone, and if you expect it to be other than it is, you might want to do something else with your time.
I suggest watching Edward 2, Alice or reading Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote by Jorge Luis Borges.
Of course, I don't have time to post something like that, so instead you get petroglyphs from the Valley of Fire State Park. (set here)
This group is a bit different. The first section here are some "big picture" shots of the petroglyph areas, some of them seriously edited to make the glyphs more readable.
The second section requires a bit more explanation. I spent four years getting a degree from Grinnell College. Grinnell graduates a whole lot of people with sociology and anthropology degrees. Though my degree happened to be in Physics, and I never took a mainstream sociology or anthropology class, I figure that just being in that environment for four years qualifies me to translate the glyphs. :)
Once upon a time, there was a little goatthing that had managed to become king of the hill by not only standing her ground but by also drawing from stone, the most impressive sword ever seen in the southern Nevada deserts. (Which, honestly, didn't take much as most of the native peoples there used spears and didn't do much metalworking at all.)
However, the little goatthing (whose name has been lost to time... let's call her Wanda) wasn't happy. She had managed to achieve quite a lot of power and fame. She was the fastest of all the goatthings, and the most intelligent, but try as she might, she just didn't have the opposable thumbs necessary to hold onto the massive sword. That lack prevented her from defending the other goatthings against the constant invasions of the snakecritters. It also made it hard to operate the DVD remote, but she had come to terms with that, and mostly just read books instead.
Needing advice, she went to visit The Wise Woman On The Hill. The hill was of a fairly low grade, so the journey was an easy one. The wise woman was unable to help Wanda, as she wasn't in the HMO's network, so she referred Wanda to the Two Brothers of Dubious Advice, who lived just down the block.
Two Brothers of Dubious Advice, who may not be as wise as The Wise Woman On The Hill (but, after all, two heads are better than one), listened to Wanda's plight and suggested that go ask Matilda, the maiden ant.
Matilda had been gifted by the gods with all possible knowledge, but cursed by the same irritating-yet-literarilly-necessary gods with the inability to speak. She listened to Wanda, and after confusing numerous gestures that caused Wanda to bring her spaghetti and ladders, managed to convey that Wanda needed to make a wish on the magic conch shell.
(It is really quite difficult to carve Spaghetti on rock.)
(Spaghettoni is difficult as well.)
After a minor and unimportant battle of wits with a palm tree (the answer was "One of its legs are both the same."), Wanda managed to win the Magic Conch Shell.
Wanda started for home.
After a short game of Archery...
Wanda continued on her journey.
She stopped to rest at a Church.
While she was sleeping, The Evil Boogiecactus crept up to steal the Magic Conch Shell. Thinking quickly, Wanda blew upon the shell, and...
Wanda got her wish!
She was also cursed with a foot, 'cause the irritating-yet-literarilly-necessary gods do stuff like that.
Now able to wield the sword, she was able to chase away The Evil Boogiecactus, as well as his companions, the Sad Centipede and Mortal Anemone. (This is why there are no anemones in Southern Nevada to this very day.)
Wanda ran away from the foot curse, and since she was the fastest of the goatthings, was able to escape. However, she ran straight into a nest of snakecritters! (OH NOES!)
The snakecritters attacked her from both sides, but due to her new opposable thumb, she was able to wield the sword and kicked, well, the middle-to-lower portion of the snakecritters' spinal anatomy.
She ate the losers, and went home to protect her people and live forever in legend.
But, somewhere deep in the middle of the desert, a cursed foot still creeps, looking for victims. This is why it is unwise to journey into the desert alone. (If you DO decide to do this, be sure to take along a lot of water. Feet hate baths.)
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Date: 2009-03-10 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 11:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 08:16 am (UTC)I can totally picture all the cave-kids sitting around saying "tell the bit about the spaghetti again, dad!" and having nightmares about that foot.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 06:12 pm (UTC)