Thursday, September 30, 2010

Dublin Dereliction Duty: Street Graffiti Puzzlers

The Liberties, Dublin

Ah, fun with negative space. At first I thought this was simply a case of paper slowly deteriorating, then I saw a cornflake in a lightbulb, and last but not least, like a believer finding the face of Jesus in a bowl of pancake batter, I saw the shape of a familiar icon begin to reveal itself in the black and white remains. Fun, innit?

Some folks like to puzzle over Sudoku, the gluttons for punishment, and others whittle away at the cryptic crossword. But if you, like me, prefer to take your brain teasers on the go, there's no shortage of this stuff on the walls and sidewalks of a city. Peeling signs. Half-painted murals. The head of the Bride of Frankenstein superimposed on a leg in fishnets. Trying to figure out what it all means may not lead to any answers or hot meals, but it's good if you're a city dweller to get in touch with one's inner hobo. Who knows, maybe if this recession keeps up we'll all be eating out of trash cans and communicating via scratched signs anyway. Might as well get a head start.

Also, there's room here to improvise a haiku if anyone feels so inspired. There's a few words to get you started, but the rest of the space is all yours.

9 comments:

Radge said...

I'm reminded of..

How many electricians does it take to change a lightbulb?

One.

Therese Cox said...

I do love a good light bulb joke.

Know how many Surrealists it takes?

"A fish."

Radge said...

Chuckle.

I get jokes.

Ray Gunn said...

"lightbulb" = closed compound.

haiku:

How years take the piss
Sometimes its jokes are funny
It's gallows humor

captcha:

ateduc: an encouragement for disheartened royalty

p.s. How do you feel about Carter's MacArthur award?

Jackie said...

How long grading takes
Years pass as colored pens die
Take it and revise.


This about sums up my weekend.

Unknown said...

The original may have been
HOW MANY
YEARS DOES IT
TAKE TO CHANGE
A NATION

a lightbulb joke...
'How many Irish mammies does it take to change a lightbulb?'
'Ah sure I'm grand here in the dark.'

and for the Haiku challenge...
How many quotas,
Years bought by the powerful,
Incandescent time.

Anonymous said...

we've been away - missed your musings

Therese Cox said...

Aw heck, y'all. I've been a deadbeat blogger again. Your wit and verse and general tomfoolery have not fallen on deaf ears.

Therese Cox said...

In fact . . .

Ray - Thanks for setting me straight on the closed compound. And yeah, go Carter! I finally learned, in reading about his MacArthur, that there is a difference between a typographer and type designer.

Jac - It's like Godot or something. 'Cause that's exactly what this week was like, too.

Conan - Ah sure that's a daycent joke altogether. And thanks as always for slipping in some stuff I never knew.

designslinger - Missed you, too. Nice to see that smiling face round here again.