(no subject)

I recently devoured China Mieville's first novel King Rat . It's a Pied Piper story set in 20th century London. I'd recommend it if you like dark urban fantasy, such as Neil Gaiman or Jonathan Carroll. It was actually recommended to me by one of the fine gentlemen at Vancouver's Pulp Fiction.

Girlfriend

I should add that I always find it weird when women refer to their friends (platonic) as their "girlfriends". I've noticed that people may age tend not to do it as much. It seems to be a more middle-aged woman thing.

It also interests me that men never refer to their male friends by this fashion. Guys can saying that they are waiting for a friend, but there is no way for them to specify the gender of the friend without sounding like the friend is their male or female partner. I wonder why we are socialized to use these particular terms.

Thoughts?

My tshirt has a picture of Gandhi on it

When I attempted to read "Che- A revolutionary life", I began pondering the popularity of Che. Granted, I never finished the book, but it did get me interested in thinking about the iconism of Che. I've often wondered why Che seems to be such a revolutionary icon in the West, especially since he killed people. I'm an advocate of non-violence, and even though I support socialism and change, I don't condone killing.
In my mind, there are a couple reasons why Che is an icon. One- Che is rather photogenic. 2- He's very Anti- American and has become a symbol of socialist revolution.

I must admit that I am rather bothered when I see shirts or kitsch etc with images of Mao Zedong on them. In general, Mao caused a lot of unnecessary pain and death. I personally would never wear or buy anything with Mao on it because I don't want to promote that regime, even if it's "ironic". I have never seen a shirt with Stalin or Lenin on it, and somehow, I don't think that would be considered. (Who would wear such a thing?)

I also wonder why there are few shirts with civil activist leaders on them. Does anyone wear shirts with Martin Luther King on them? How about Gandhi? In my mind, Gandhi was a great leader who advocated peace. I used to actually have a shirt which bore Gandhi's picture and the slogan "Another skinhead for peace." I always got compliments on this shirt. I realize that Gandhi is not as "photogenic" as Che, but I think he's a pretty cool dude.

What about Nelson Mandela? Is it wrong to wear this kind of shirt because he is still alive? Perhaps he does not have any sort of credential with the kind of hipster kids that wear these sorts of shirts.

I guess the most acceptable "peaceful heroes" on shirts are Bob Marley, Bob Dylan and John Lennon.

These are just some things I'm tossing around in my brain.