theworsthorse.net: horsefeed

From CNN: “I don’t view the Olympics as a political event,” President Bush said this past week. “I view it as a sporting event.”

Interesting.  And did you know, Dubya, that many people don’t view your time in the White House as a presidency?

Maybe you should try a little presiding.

Full story here.

An oldie but a goodie*. Thanks to invaluable friend/advisor Kin for sending on this shot of a flyer for apartments for rent.

See? “Zen” is good for selling just about everything. Including real estate.

Could Trump-brand Zafus be far behind?

* More classic Burgers to be posted soon, as we move material from our old blog to this one. Hey, if it’s new to you, what the heck.

Can’t wait to see it. Here’s the review.

Via Time. Click here to read it.

Don’t forget: Burma is still important!

Via CNN/AP:
“NARITA, Japan (AP) — The Dalai Lama said he supports China’s hosting of the Summer Olympics on Thursday, but insisted that nobody had the right to tell protesters demanding freedom for Tibet ‘to shut up.’” …read the rest here.

Thanks to the mighty Weasel Tracks for sending this ad:

As he writes: “I think the female principal is the first instance I’ve seen of a real full-lotus in such ads. Wish I could do it like that.”

That might be, but it’s clearly not helping her. Easy on that gong, lady!

Protests in San Francisco, complete with people scaling the Golden Gate to fly pro-Tibet banners. Protests in Paris, cutting the torch relay short. People are getting mad. Here’s a good, simple run-down.

Will China shit bricks?

Will China shrug and light up a cigar?

Will pro-Chinese propagandists try to leave pro-Chinese propaganda as comments on this blog, only to find their messages disregarded?

Only one of these questions has an almost-certain outcome.

So: Deepak Chopra’s comic book “Buddha” is finally out. Here’s the cover:

So how is it? Well, let’s try to answer that by asking some questions that one might have.

Q: Does Chopra take liberties with the source material? (The source material being the legend of the Buddha’s birth, life, and death.)

Sure, that’s a given. But then again, it’s clear that with so many traditions having their own presentations of the legend, Chopra’s not exactly being so cavalier as some purists will say. That being said, there’s something weird about the full title of the comic book, isn’t there? It’s “Deepak Chopra’s Buddha (TM): A Story of Enlightenment.” (For more of this kind of thing, see the Horse’s February 08 piece, “In Defense of Deepak and Dharma-Dabbling.”

Q: How does it look?

It looks like this, which is to say, damned good:

Q: Did I enjoy it?

Yeah! I really did. It’s cool to be reading something like this in comic-book form. The Buddha’s life has recently been told – with GIANT liberties taken – in Osama Tezuka’s massive, multivolume Buddha graphic novel. Tezuka’s version of things was very cool in ways, and not-necessarily-so-much in others. There’s only one issue of Chopra’s Buddha comic out as of this writing, but that one issue feels like a good comic book: appropriately epic, colorful, and appealing in how it plays with imagery and storytelling.

Q: Would I buy the next one?

Yep. But then, I’d buy it even if it sucked, if only because I think it’s a noteworthy development when a figure as well-known as Deepak Chopra decides to put his name on a comic book about the Buddha.) However, it really does seem to be off to a good start. And it’s nice to know that a “story of enlightenment” make for as cool and dark and complex a comic as a well-put-together superhero yarn.

Of course you’ll have to check it out for yourself to see if you agree. If you do, leave a comment here and tell folks what your take on “Buddha” is.

Thanks to Virgin Comics, who granted permission to reproduce imagery from Buddha here. All imagery in this post (c) Virgin Comics LLC.

“In such a repressive environment, 24-year-old rapper Thuta said hip-hop was the only way for him to express himself without fear.” …Read the whole article here.

Thanks to great friend MS, who sends this very clever British PSA:

How’d you do?