Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
I wonder: there must be researchers that analyse the children’s TV programmes that people grow up with, across generations and countries. If so, what does their research say about the shows I grew up with, in 1980s Switzerland?
Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
When I was a kid, the Pink Panther films seemed to be regulars on the television. Not quite as ubiquitous as Bond or the Carry Ons, but probably not far behind. As a result I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know of Inspector Clouseau of the Sûreté, a clumsy comedy incompetent with an amusing French parody of an accent. I even have a distinct memory of one of the films being on when I was very young, and Sellars getting attacked by his assistant Cato (Burt Kwok playing a lazy Orientalist stereotype of a martial artist a world away from the characters in Julie’s post last week). Seeing the obvious shock and distress in my face, it was patiently explained to me that Clouseau paid his assistant to attack him at random times, to make sure he was always ready. I seemed to find this incredibly reassuring.
Continue readingWelcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
Ah, love.
Son Oh Gong, the Monkey King, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, is in love. Not willingly, mind you. He was tricked by a mortal woman into wearing the Geumganggo. This bracelet makes him infatuated with her and desperate to protect her by any means. He’s infuriated. He’s disgusted. After all, he was originally planning to eat her (it’s a long story)! But he is undeniably in love.
Continue readingWelcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
At some point when I was in my early teenage years, I found myself with a video tape of classic Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons, which we’d got from an uncle or from some friends. In the end it doesn’t matter, because what mattered was the joy the video brought: these were the genuine classics of Warner Bros. animation, the likes of What’s Opera, Doc?, in which Elmer Fudd dresses up as Siegfried and sings “Kill the wabbit!” to the tune of Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkryries”, and Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, the second-funniest piece of filmmaking about Mutually Assured Destruction.
Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
Italian TV cartoons that were the joy of our youths? Reading Alan’s piece from last week, I didn’t have to look far: To me, La Linea, the little angry man hand-sketched by a cartoonist on a line, was an ever-present phenomenon in 1980s television.
Continue readingWelcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
When I was young, in distant, far-off days when television in the UK was limited to just four channels, you could sometimes find yourself idly watching the box when a genuine oddity would come up. Nothing you would actually have ever thought about watching, but it was on and, before you knew it, BANG, you were hooked.
Continue readingWelcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
Although I try to avoid plot spoilers, for those who have never seen L.A. Confidential: skip this article and see the film first. It’s worth it, and inevitably there will be minor spoilers ahead.
Continue readingWelcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
Revenge is one of the staples of our culture. Think of Hamlet, or The Count of Monte Cristo, or even of Carrie. Think of Kill Bill or Mad Max or The Princess Bride. Revenge is a motif, and indeed a motive, that’s clear, easily understood, and it allows us to vicariously enjoy our darker impulses through others. We may fantasise about getting our own back on those who have wronged us, but we rarely put it into practice – and most definitely not as spectacularly as Maximus the Gladiator, or Beatrix “the Bride” Kiddo, or Inigo Montoya, the sword master we’ve all wanted to be at one time or another.
Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
Have you ever thought about what vengeance means to you? Who would you revenge yourself on? The coworker who stole your promotion, the jerk who cut you off in traffic, the kid who made your life hell in middle school? Someone closer to you? And what would it look like, to actually, really, finally get your own back?
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A Damn Fine Cup of Culture 