SPY vs SPY

Its a mad, mad world. The Communists vs. Capitalist mind games created the cold war- and two of its main protagonists, the USA and USSR though did not actually wage war against each other, spawned off many pitched battles in a mad environment (Koreas and Vietnam, for instance). It brought about isolation of the two countries from each other. And mind games were fought. Among the various "inspirations" the cold war created was a wordless cartoon strip in the MAD magazine.

The magazine MAD, never impressed me- however, I acquired a liking for the cartoon strip, SPY versus SPY. The cold war made a Cuban, Antonio Prohias, to create the white and black "spies" to fight against each other. It was made to represent the communist and capitalist ideas respectively (which is which?). The white spy and the black spy fight against each other, usually by setting booby traps. Sometimes the white one is victorious, and sometimes the black one gets the white spy killed. They are always at loggerheads with each spy ever designing more sophisticated means to get his rival killed. Usually the plan succeeds, but many times the other spy thwarts his rival's ideas by his own ingenious plan and sees him off.

Sometimes, the black and white spies are replaced by black and white high ranking officers, and a few times a grey lady spy (whom both the spies are in love with) is also seen. MAD magazine first brought their battles in 1961, and even today MAD regularly witnesses their conflicts.

Much time has passed on since its creator died and the concept was carried on by latter artists, which is indeed an achievement for MAD. The original creator Antonio Prohias also "coded" his name in Morse, much in tune with the communist-capitalist tensions. I saw a book full of SPY vs SPY recently, and hence this blog.

(pics taken from http://bloglubbock.com/?m=200512, and http://www.peterkuper.com/artforsale/salehtml/spyvsspys.html, and copyright rests with the original author).

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"RACIAL" ABUSE?

Another interesting controversy in Cricket, which broaches upon a broader spectrum of sociology. Darrell Hair (a White Australian umpire) was subject to racial discrimination by "Asian countries", so he alleges... Andrew Symonds (Australian) was subject to "racial" abuse by Indians; and if that is not enough, get this... White South Africans (South Africans, of all people!) were "RACIALLY" abused by a section of people in the Pakistani crowd!

Not that racial abuse is new in this world. But whats interesting is the reversal in trend recently. Suddenly, it is "cool" to be black/brown/asian. If you are white, then you could be taunted. White people are suddenly finding themselves at the receiving end of all the racial slurs. How did this reversal happen?

It is too premature to suggest that there is a definite reversal in the making. Racism as the way we know, is still very much prevalent- Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was the subject of racial ridicule in the celebrity show, "BIG BROTHER", for her being "brown". However, you cannot ignore the fact that race crimes (by white people) have come down dramatically.

Interestingly enough, "BLACK SUPREMACY" was in vogue for quite some time now. Wikipedia has this to say "Black supremacy is a racist ideology which holds that black people are superior to other people and is most often thought of in connection with anti-white racism, anti-Semitism and bigotry towards non-black people." Groups like the Rastafari group, New Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, Melanin theory, Nation of Gods and Earth, Nation of Yahweh, United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, etc. are all black supremacist groups- these groups with black pride ideas bordering on fanaticism are no lesser than Ku Klux Klan or other white supremacist groups.

What we are seeing could be the tip of the iceberg here- with the population of white people gradually being outnumbered by brown and black people, there naturally is a tendency for these so called "lesser mortals" to feel superior. And these incidents in cricket could suggest a trend in the making- of course law and order will prevail and it might not be as ghastly as 200-300 years back. But as it is said, History repeats itself...

(Image taken from http://www.water-bongs-glass-pipes.com/rastafari-movement-(rastas)/tp/ib/i-257/, and copyright rests with the original author who uploaded the front cover of this book)

GRAFFITI WARS

Graffiti has ceased to be an art form (would you believe it?), and now it is generally frowned upon by the public; and any act of graffiti (usually on public property) is viewed as vandalism, and treated thus. "Lettering" walls and other surfaces has come a long way since its early foundations in ancient Rome and middle east. Historically found in catacombs (underground burial grounds for Jews, Christians), in the Arab world, and also in the pyramids of Egypt, graffiti has now been reduced to hip-hop and black culture.

In the US, rival gangs in shady neighbourhoods all have their own "symbol", and graffiti wars are usually triggered by the appearance of one gang symbol. And usually alongside, the rival symbol pops up... and the war is ignited. Soon, the whole neighbourhood is sprawling with spray-painted structures. And many punks and wannabes usually make their own "symbol" and wisecrack sayings, and they make an unholy appearance too. And other curious souls too try their hand at spraypainting, with a "_____ was here", or a "____ rules" or something like that. Before you realise, there is a whole lot of graffiti everywhere.

The walls and structures inside of a University are no exception too, as this picture suggests. Actually, this mini-racist war here is quite hilarious as you can see for yourself! And my take on graffiti? It better not be on my property!

(Click on the picture to view the "graffiti" more clearly!)