the stuff inside my head that must get out
archives
Wed, 31 Dec 2003
year end wrap-up
2003 was a pretty interesting year for me. It was a down year for the
economy in general, and not exactly an ideal time to try and start a
new business venture. Hijinx Downtown has been a terrific learning
experience and I'm definitely glad that I did it. I'm particularly
lucky to have chosen a good partner who is willing to do what it takes
to float such an enterprise. Kevin Wu is the heart and soul of Hijinx
Downtown. I'm only there a few days out of the week, and the rest is
all Kevin.
Downtown is kind of similar to Willow Glen in that it is an honest to goodness neighborhood, not a shopping district. Downtown is full of good people who are thrilled to have a store like Hijinx in the neighborhood. Everybody from the students at San Jose State to the fans and the families live in the area are jazzed to be able to buy good comics downtown again.
Looking back over the year, I'd say the true Hijinx Comics was finally born in 2003. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I think I'm pretty much set with the current layout, and there's just enough room to grow in the coming year. The people I have to thank most (besides JK) for all of this are all of you loyal customers who make either Hijinx part of your weekly routine. Without your passion for comics and your willingness to support mine, none of this would have happened.
God bless you all in the coming year.
Thu, 18 Dec 2003
Grodd!
How many super-powered monkeys can you name? Not as many as me since
I found The Canonical List of Super Non-Human Simians.
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Socialist Men Under a Red Father
my roommate sent me this:
Communism. Seen as the alien evil for so long in democratic countries. The public has been unaware that for so long their children have been exposed to communist ideas and regimes in a median as innocent as a childrens cartoon show.
Was Peyo (the genius behind the smurfs) simply creating a children's television show, OR was he simply trying to pass his communist ideals down to a new generation?
Take a look at the man in charge of the Smurfs, Papa Smurf. Is it just a coincidence that he wears a RED hat and RED trousers? Also notice the similarities in appearence between Karl Marx, the founder of the communist ideals, and Papa Smurf.
All of the smurfs look exactly the same (with the exception of Papa Smurf and Smurfette). They all have white hats, white trousers and are blue. This is just like the Marxist theory of a classless society where all men and women are treated as equals and are comerades.
Communism is built on the idea that no man is better or worse off than any other. Private buisness is disallowed and all workers work to benefit the country as a whole. In the Smurfs village all of the smurfs have their own individual jobs to do. No Smurf is regarded as being better than any other smurf. Every smurf has their own job to do, which benefits everyone in the community. Handy Smurf makes the houses for everyone to live in, Jokey Smurf keeps everyone happy, Brainy Smurf has a lot of technical knowledge. The Smurfs have no currency and every thing is shared equally between them. It is nearly impossible to tell one smurf from another. This demonstrated the idea of total equality and that every member of the society was as important as the others. Communists were often depicted as using violence as a way to sort out their problems and get what they want. In keeping with that portrayal the Smurfs have no qualms about using their "Magic Dust" to stop peop le aggressing against them or to retrieve an object which they desire.
Take a look at what Smurfs are portrayed in a positive light. Handy Smurf, the worker (which illustrates the rise of the working class to power) and Hefty Smurf, the soldier. Also look at which smurfs are portrayed negatively. Greedy, who eats too much, and Vanity, who contributes absolutely nothing to society.
Another of the Smurfs negatively portrayed is Brainy Smurf.
He bears a striking resemblance to one of Lenin's high ranking officials, Trotsky.
During the 1920's Trotsky was exiled from Russia by Stalin to Mexico. The reason for this was that Trotsky's ideas conflicted with those of Stalin and other high ranking communists. Like him, Brainy Smurf too questions the smurf ideals and is one of the few unhappy smurfs.
The Smurfs biggest enemy was Gargamel, the representation of Capitalism in Smurf Land.
Gargamel wanted to catch the Smurfs in order to turn them into gold. Peyo wished to portray Capitalists as money hungry, greed-driven people whose sole purpose in life was the accumulation of wealth. Also note that Gargamel looks not unlike a stereotypical person of the Jewish faith. Under the communist regime (during certain time periods) Jews were persecuted for, among other things, their love of money. Also Azrael, Gargamels cat, was an indication of the communist belief that the American politicians were under the control of one overbearing greedy leader.
Wed, 03 Dec 2003
help wanted
I need somebody to work Sundays and Mondays in the Willow Glen store. If you're
interested in joining the Hijinx team, send your resume to
jobs@hijinxcomics.com in a plain text
format. I'm hoping for somebody with experience at a traditional bookstore who
likes comics and wants to learn more about the business. A willingness to work
for comics sometimes wouldn't hurt either!
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website facelift
I finally got around to updating the look of this here website. I ditched some of the
superfluous elements and concentrated on readability and utility. The jazzy new design
was created by the fine folk at egon.
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