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FT230

Mal_Adjusted

Mal_Adjusted

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
Messages
2,246
normal service resumed 8)

A quick resume of contents. not had time to read it.

Vatican document on Templars; cloud photos; usual shorts; injury induced language changes; cat burials; konspiracy korner and archaeological news; mythconceptions updates; ABC news; head injuries; deaths; UFO stuff; Siberian "Valley of Death"; Alternative 3 interview; Ripley's interview; Holy Grail (with pic!); a Yorkshire Giant; reviews; competitions; letters, cartoons. And the shell grotto in margate which i suggested someone do an article on ages ago. (Amazing place. worth a visit.)

and all the other stuff that I've omitted.

FT 231 is a special issue on Aleister Crowley out just in time for the christmas market.
 
Looks like a good issue, more of a mix of subjects than there has been lately. It's the way forward!
 
I was chuffed to find it had been delivered while I was out. Recently, it's been turning up somewhat late. I'm looking forward to reading the Strange Siberia article.
 
liveinabin1 said:
Just got mine here.

TO THE BATH!!
Click to expand...
But first...to Lush! I'm glad it's not just me. When we had the water shortage here the issues were stacking up, unread.
 
Yup. And then there was the peg shortage.
 
The Siberian article was a useful hook to hang the local Forteana on but the expedition was a shaggy dog story. They went into the wilds to find...










...a pond. And the Ilkley stick model didn't seem to warrant the space either. Not a classic issue.
 
I quite liked the Siberian 'cauldrons' and the Ilkley E.T. (do any photos of 'Jenny' Randles post c. 1978 exist?!) - just goes to show, horses for courses etc.
 
Randles has been discussing the Ilkley Moor little green man case on the Ufologyinuk mailing list recently, if anyone's interested in learning more about it.
 
Even accounting for a sour grapes factor after the Ilkley incident couple separated, the model explanations seems like end of story from here. The Ufological community are as prone to hanging onto belief in the face of reasonable explanation as any other Forteans.
Next stage will split into conspiracy theories and social-contextual analysis of why people take photographs of lopsided plaster of paris goblins.
 
colpepper1 said:
...... social-contextual analysis of why people take photographs of lopsided plaster of paris goblins.
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Actually, that is the sort of thing I find quite interesting :D
 
Mine came t'other day. I'll enjoy it in bed with a glass of Tesco's finest paintstrip later.
 
Konspiracy Korner was a bit unintentionally funny this month. He goes on about the conspiracy theorists are unable to change their minds and accept new ideas, then his example of thinking his friend was a spook is topped with the admission that he probably was an agent and he was right all along. Pot, kettle?
 
For a while now, I've not been happy with some of the 'humorous' illustrations, specifically those of dead people.

This issue, I've seen two separate funny depictions of suicide by different artists. Oh, my poor sides. :roll:

Surely the subject of death can be tackled in a more tasteful way? Or do we only deserve repetitive jokey drawings of corpses?

Attempting to depict the the actual death of an individual, often named in the text, is NOT funny. It is close to mocking the dead. What if a relation of the dead person were to see it? It's probably already happened - I shudder to think how hurt they'd be.

I'm so offended by this that I'm considering cancelling my subscription. I've been loyal enough to stick with FT through the apparent dumbing-down and the questionable ads, but perhaps the time has come.
 
escargot1 said:
For a while now, I've not been happy with some of the 'humorous' illustrations, specifically those of dead people.

This issue, I've seen two separate funny depictions of suicide by different artists. Oh, my poor sides. :roll:

...
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I must admit, I noticed them and thought they went a bit too far in the general direction of plumbing the depths of bad taste.

More like 'Bizarre' than the FT, really. :(
 
May I just add my voice to the others who find it tasteless?

Some things are suitable for a cartoon, but a depiction of an actual person who's killed themselves isn't, in my opinion.
 
Alex is dead :(
I liked that parrot

I found the article about Siberis pretty interesting. It seems to get a lot of weird stuff. I hope they manage to finance another expedition and excavate those cauldron thingies.
 
Point taken about the suicide cartoons; the first one isn't particularly funny but is at least merely generic and unlikely to offend anyone but the most oversensitive of souls; the second, as people have pointed out, does represent a real incident, and in the unlikely event of the deceased's relatives picking it up could cause genuine pain to them.

Thinking about it, the problem isn't that the subject is suicide - which is, after all, as funny, or not, as you choose to find it (and, as Nietzsche said, the thought of it can get one through many a bad night). The problem extends to the visual representation of any death, no matter how absurd: Just because you fell into a jar of pickles, were shot by your own dog or died of a gigantic fart doesn't mean that someone, somewhere loved you.

We'll certainly have a think about redesigning the column, as these concerns are ones we've had ourselves from time to time. Perhaps returning to a simple reaper figure would be the best idea - although I wonder, ultimately, whether the column as a whole, pictures or not, might be seen as in bad taste by some readers, despite the fact that it's been running for years. But would that be a reason to discontinue it?

Any thoughts on the subject would be welcome.

DS
 
Dr_David_Sutton said:
Perhaps returning to a simple reaper figure would be the best idea - although I wonder, ultimately, whether the column as a whole, pictures or not, might be seen as in bad taste by some readers, despite the fact that it's been running for years. But would that be a reason to discontinue it?

Any thoughts on the subject would be welcome.

DS
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I don't think the column's the problem in itself - as you point out it's been a feature for years, and strange demises are a Fortean staple (we've got a thread on it here, and no-one's ever objected to it's existence, just the occasional off-colour entry.) I have to agree though that the accompanying illustrations in the mag have gone downhill - the reaper with the mandolin always did the job admirably, IMHO :).
 
I do think there's a place for reading about unusual deaths, because it's a subject that everyone has an anecdote about. People are interested.

However, it should be done seriously. I approve of the straightforward text in the 'Strange Deaths' column, but the jokey illustrations ruin it.

I used to quite like the way we'd see the Grim Reaper approaching in various ways - holding a can of dodgy food* or whatever - because that was an impersonal way of presenting a touch of black humour, which I found appropriate.

The problem extends to the visual representation of any death, no matter how absurd
Click to expand...
As I see it, death itself can be decently mocked, but not the dead. Drawing pictures of people, often whose names we know from the text, suffering 'absurd' deaths mocks them. It's wrong.

(This also applies to showing photos of dead people. Disrespectful in the extreme.)

Also, I'm not convinced that we need to distinguish between, say, relatives of suicide victims and 'oversensitive souls' in order to gauge how offensive a cartoon might be found. What about people who feel insulted at being expected to appreciate a crass representation of an actual person's death?
Clue: they might cancel.

*may be a made-up example as I can't remember for certain.
 
For me, the Strange Deaths column acts as a kind of memento mori - it reminds me that I shouldn't take my own life for granted when at any moment it might be terminated by any number of strange and unlikely happenings.

I'd agree that the cartoons are unnecessary. There's undeniably something grimly funny about someone drowning in a giant vat of custard or being accidentally decapitated by circus clowns, or whatever, but there's no need to ram the humour down peoples throats. We can see the humour for ourselves without needing to have a cartoonist yelling the equivalent of "OMG! HE DROWNED IN CUSTARD! THAT's LIKE, SO FUNNY! CUSTARD! HA!"
 
Artist's response

Terry Colon has sent the following to show his own take on the subject.

"To a degree I understand and respect the criticisms - it is in questionable
taste to depict the actual deaths. I myself prefer the hooded death,
symbolic pics. My only excuse, which may or may not be valid, is that I had
done so many of them I thought to try a different tack. Death can be a
touchy subject and should be handled with appropriate care. I will endeavor
to handle the illustrations with all due discretion in the future."

I hope we can handle the section without causing offense from now on.
 
Good answer. :D
Many thanks.

I hope a similar standard applies to the rest of the magazine too.
 
escargot1 said:
Good answer. :D
Many thanks.

I hope a similar standard applies to the rest of the magazine too.
Click to expand...

I'd quite like real gold staples in the mag. It would give us something to collect and treasure as opposed to waiting for the cd/dvd version.
 
No, silver'd be better. Gold would be, well, vulgar.
 
Still didn't get this last issue thanks to various postal strikes, bone idle temporary staff and an apparent haphazard mailing date. For the first time since becoming a subscriber there's a gaping hole in my collection. :headbutt:
 
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