So the emergency budget has come and gone and we’re still here — albeit in a “state o’ chassis” as Sean O’Casey would have said– but, let’s face it, you’d want to have a good sense of humour to get you through these times. Or is satire not allowed if it involves taking a shot at public figures?
There is plenty of surreal and silly humour to be found on this blog. One of the latest posts sends up the horoscopes that we secretly read in the daily
papers and sometimes think ‘Ooh, that’s eerily accurate.’
This version — the begrudoscopes — blows those general and well-meaning nuggets of misinformation out of the water. Apparently a stork will destroy my property and terrorise my family at some point this week. The Begrudger also takes questions. One reader has asked when the recession will end. On 4 September 2011, around lunchtime apparently.
Blather has been going for over a decade and it encompasses a network of several blogs mixing humour, politics, the arts and plenty of other bits and pieces.
While Zeitgeist is one of the blogs under the umbrella of Blather, I think it sums up the site as a whole because it manages to capture the flavour and feel of the Irish nation in general during these present times.
If you’re looking for a place to get angry over the Government, this is the blog for you. It promises to poke fun at “various overpaid members of Leinster House”.
Something for your reading pleasure: “Recent statistics now show that an Irish person suffering with the bubonic plague during the Black Death would have had a better chance of staying alive by going to the local apothecary than if they were to limp into an Irish hospital with a sprained ankle tomorrow.”
As the Roman poet Juvenal said: “In times like these it is difficult not to write satire.”
I remember the days when the Sunday funnies were a main requirement (mostly because I was around 12 years old), but the comic strip has evolved a lot since then.
The web comic is a staple diet for most internet surfers, so this homegrown one, Flatmates, should make it to your RSS reader.
Whether you’re living in the Big Smoke with a ragtag bunch of flatmates or even if renting is in your distant past, this strip will bring a smile to your face.
By Marie Boran
