Do you ever feel in need of a really really good long laugh? Not a grin, not a giggle or guffaw but a flat out stomach crunching, tear spilling bout of rolling in the aisles laughter? Me too. Where's Lucy and my nine year old self to enjoy her? Lucy and Ethel working in the candy factory on youtube only rate a snicker now. Where's Monty Python and my 25 year old self to enjoy them? The Dead Parrot sketch is still there to be seen but instead of convulsing in merriment like the first time I watched it, now I chuckle.
George Carlin could inspire howls of mirth but he's been dead a while now and what he had to say about living in this society is more true with each passing day. It's not so funny anymore when those who should have been ridiculed off the world stage are still here and more in control than ever. I'm still angry every time I read a word about the ecologic disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. I continue to be enraged that our government is owned by the banking industry. I'm depressed about the health care act and even more so about unemployment and the fact that in a police state the only jobs many young people can get are with the police and the military.
In general people are trapped by circumstance but it's good to know about those who still have the initiative to step over the line. A friend's post about Banksy, the mysterious graffiti artist who travels the world (with a posse one assumes) tagging public spaces with guerilla art that makes random viewers stop and think, got me wandering the nets. I remembered a few years ago that he smuggled his own artwork into four major galleries and museums in New York and wanted to find the article.
Instead, and remarkably enough, it turns out there's a new movie by and about Banksy and other street artists called 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' that tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner with spectacular results. As Banksy describes it, it's basically the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable.. and failed.The trailer made me laugh enough that I'm looking forward to seeing the whole thing. Check it out:
The sad thing is that these guys get arrested if they're caught.
It's a strange world.
