Erick's Blog cartoon: Coincidence or conspiracy?
I looked in Technorati around 11 am this morning, July 25, to see where my Israel-Lebanon cartoon was listed. It was on the first page (keyword: israel cartoon). Three links above was another link called "Editorial Cartoon: Palestine, Israel and Babies" from Erick's Blog. Since this person's blog had the same first name as me (except I'm Eric, not Erick), I went to see what was there.
The Erick's Blog link had a July 25 cartoon which seemed stylistically similar to my July 21 Israel cartoon. Both used symmetry, black felt tip pen lines, and some spaces were colored in black. The cartoon on Erick's Blog took the Israel perspective as opposed to my cartoon which criticized Israel (though I feel my cartoon had some balance). Erick's posting title ("Editorial Cartoon: Palestine, Israel and Babies") also seemed similar to my original posting title ["Israel-Lebanon-Hezbollah (cartoon)]. *
When I looked at Erick's Blog's front page, the July 25 posting above Erick's cartoon posting had a title with a similar three-word list, "The Future: Capital, Cash and Gold." The July 25 posting below Erick's cartoon posting was called "Apply Directly to the Forehead." It linked to a Slate.com article about a new headache remedy called HeadOn.
But could the sentence "Apply directly to the forehead" also be a reference to a gun or a bullet to someone's forehead? Erick's Forehead posting came directly beneath the cartoon posting that had two people pointing guns at each other and Samizdata.net, from which Erick apparently got the cartoon, had a handgun as part of its logo. **
Could this also be a death message for me? The cartoon is similar to my Israel cartoon, the Future posting above mentioned Japan (I am of Japanese descent. Many of Erick's previous postings mentioned Japan also), and the blog's name, Erick's Blog, is similar to my first name. Also, could I be the headache that's being referenced from Erick's Forehead link? The picture in the Slate.com article also looks like the young woman is taking a large bullet between the eyes.
So is Erick's cartoon a commentary on my cartoon or is it just a coincidence? If it is a commentary, I've only had six visitors to my blog (so far) since I posted the Israel cartoon, so it would seem strange for someone with my first name to be one of those six people. ***
Erick, in a reply to my email, said that it was coincidence. ****
footnotes
* I changed my title around 2:30 am, july 25, to "Israel - Lebanon - Eat shrapnel, Hezbollah! (cartoon)." That's also why our links are so close in the Technorati list even though my original posting was on July 21.
** Erick's cartoon posting provides a link to the cartoon on Samizdata.net. One of the comments on Samizdata said that they had seen that cartoon before, so maybe the Samizdata cartoon pre-dated mine. Samizdata put the Israel-Palestine cartoon in the context of Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah in its commentary.
*** Erick's Blog has postings going back to January 2004 in its archives.
**** "Erick" had left 2 comments to this posting (see comments). There were links on his comments to Erick's profile on Blogger with links to Erick's Blog and to Erick's email. I emailed Erick and asked if it was a coincidence or conspiracy. He emailed back and said it was a coincidence and that he thought that my cartoon and the cartoon that he had linked to were dissimilar, that their positions on Israel were different.
posted: july 25, 2006, 1:51 PM ET
update: august 26, 2006, 10:56 AM ET
The Erick's Blog link had a July 25 cartoon which seemed stylistically similar to my July 21 Israel cartoon. Both used symmetry, black felt tip pen lines, and some spaces were colored in black. The cartoon on Erick's Blog took the Israel perspective as opposed to my cartoon which criticized Israel (though I feel my cartoon had some balance). Erick's posting title ("Editorial Cartoon: Palestine, Israel and Babies") also seemed similar to my original posting title ["Israel-Lebanon-Hezbollah (cartoon)]. *
When I looked at Erick's Blog's front page, the July 25 posting above Erick's cartoon posting had a title with a similar three-word list, "The Future: Capital, Cash and Gold." The July 25 posting below Erick's cartoon posting was called "Apply Directly to the Forehead." It linked to a Slate.com article about a new headache remedy called HeadOn.
But could the sentence "Apply directly to the forehead" also be a reference to a gun or a bullet to someone's forehead? Erick's Forehead posting came directly beneath the cartoon posting that had two people pointing guns at each other and Samizdata.net, from which Erick apparently got the cartoon, had a handgun as part of its logo. **
Could this also be a death message for me? The cartoon is similar to my Israel cartoon, the Future posting above mentioned Japan (I am of Japanese descent. Many of Erick's previous postings mentioned Japan also), and the blog's name, Erick's Blog, is similar to my first name. Also, could I be the headache that's being referenced from Erick's Forehead link? The picture in the Slate.com article also looks like the young woman is taking a large bullet between the eyes.
So is Erick's cartoon a commentary on my cartoon or is it just a coincidence? If it is a commentary, I've only had six visitors to my blog (so far) since I posted the Israel cartoon, so it would seem strange for someone with my first name to be one of those six people. ***
Erick, in a reply to my email, said that it was coincidence. ****
footnotes
* I changed my title around 2:30 am, july 25, to "Israel - Lebanon - Eat shrapnel, Hezbollah! (cartoon)." That's also why our links are so close in the Technorati list even though my original posting was on July 21.
** Erick's cartoon posting provides a link to the cartoon on Samizdata.net. One of the comments on Samizdata said that they had seen that cartoon before, so maybe the Samizdata cartoon pre-dated mine. Samizdata put the Israel-Palestine cartoon in the context of Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah in its commentary.
*** Erick's Blog has postings going back to January 2004 in its archives.
**** "Erick" had left 2 comments to this posting (see comments). There were links on his comments to Erick's profile on Blogger with links to Erick's Blog and to Erick's email. I emailed Erick and asked if it was a coincidence or conspiracy. He emailed back and said it was a coincidence and that he thought that my cartoon and the cartoon that he had linked to were dissimilar, that their positions on Israel were different.
posted: july 25, 2006, 1:51 PM ET
update: august 26, 2006, 10:56 AM ET
posted by eric at 11:11 AM
3 Comments:
I did not create that cartoon. I think I found it on Samizdata.net, but I copied it over to my own server because the web is NOTORIOUS for information being here one day, gone the next. Cheers! Erick
also you should watch the "Apply directly to the forehead" commercial on Slate.com. It is endlessly funny. I crack up laughing every time I watch it.
Here are some links that I believe will be interested
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