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Archive for March 31st, 2008

pop snark

Remember Mad Magazine fold-ins? The last page of the magazine, where you fold the two tabs together and get a hidden picture and message? I do. In fact, they were the bane of my existence for my early teens when Mad was my bible. I could never get the damn picture to line up, and I ended up with a bunch of magazines with wrecked back covers, anathema to any geek for whom “mint condition” is a holy phrase.

Anyway.

The New York Times has thoughtfully collected some of the best and most biting fold-ins done by cartoonist extraordinaire, Al Jaffee. And thanks to some nifty techno-coolness, they fold perfectly everytime. Click through for the full display…the techno trickery don’t work on my blog so good.

March 31st, 2008 by graeme | | no comments »

green bin

Dith Pran, 1942-2008

Dith Pran, Cambodian journalist and inspiration for the film The Killing Fields, has died of cancer. He was 65.

In 1975, Dith worked as a translator for NYT reporter Sydney Schanberg during Cambodia’s slide into Khmer Rouge madness. After the fall of Phnom PenhSchanberg was unable to get Dith out of the country. After four years of living with the brutal communist regime, he managed to escape after an incredible cross country journey. His story inspired the Oscar-winning movie, named after the term he coined for the mass graves he witnessed while fleeing through Cambodia.

Dith was a both a courageous journalist and human being. If you haven’t seen it, I really recommend checking out The Killing Fields. It’s one of my favourite films, a moving chronicle of a horrible time and the extraordinary people who witnessed it.

UPDATE: Check out Dith Pran’s ‘Video Obit‘ at the NYT.

Photo: Dith Pran and his wife Ser Moeun.

March 31st, 2008 by graeme | | 3 comments »