Sunday, September 07, 2008

Mad about MAD

I first came across MAD Magazine in Poona, India while in the 5th grade
and a lot of my views regarding the USA were inadvertently shaped on
what was in those pages. Surprise, surprise - I moved to the States at
the age of 26 and discovered that all those parodies of people and places
were not that far from the truth.....here's the latest MAD cover with
the usual timely take on current events. In this case it's the recent
appearance of Sara Palin as the nominee for America's Vice-President in
the upcoming elections:




For those not interested enough to know about this latest media darling,
it might help to know that she is a former Miss Alaska runner-up and
current Governor of that state who has raised 5 children, two of them
adopted, one of them from an orphanage in Bangladesh run by
Mother Theresa
.

Ms. Palin calls herself a 'Hockey Mom', loves hunting, fishing, was nicknamed
'Sarah 'Barracuda' by her teammates on the High School Basketball team and
raised tons of money for Alaska so I'm sure John McCain will see some good
returns on his gamble.

On another note, imagine my good fortune to have Dick De Bartolo, the writing
genius (for over 40 years) behind so many great MAD issues, chatting with me
from the back of my Limo in New York ! I was so effusive with my feelings that he
took off the MAD pin from his famous baseball hat and gave it to me, along with
the latest issue of MAD with a personal autographed message. How can I
not be a MAD fan for life ?

Check out a really MAD fan site here

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Major Hurricane Survival Tip

It's almost three years to the day since Katrina swept through
New Orleans and that city has just survived another catastrophe.
Now that Gustav has been downgraded to a Cat 2 and spared the folks
of New Orleans we are now getting ready to handle Hanna, the next
named storm currently moving at 80 mph. But Hanna has someone
named
Ike on her tail as I just found out a minute ago....

I was looking for related survival tips when I remembered this pic I'd
bookmarked and wanted to delete, but not before sharing it here:
A proven, scientific way to be prepared for the worst and not die
of thirst. Urine luck, Indian-style !



All previous Hurricane-related posts
http://virtualpoona.blogspot.com/search?q=katrina