Certainly NOT studying.
I used to sit there in the magazine section, devouring MAD magazines. Miraculously, the school library then had a fantastic MAD magazine collection.
Last month, I managed to purchase seven 1970's MAD magazines from the Chowrasta Market Second Hand book stalls. *Gloating* And they are in MINT condition.
I confess. I grew up on comics.
I was a voracious reader. I learnt how to read by the age of 3 and was devouring Illustrated Classics.
As far back as in Std 1, I was reading June and School Friends. Each Monday, my father would bring home the latest issue of the comic. I finished most of the Enid Blyton series by Standard 3, moved on to Agatha Christie in Std 3. I skipped Standard 4 as I was in an express class and by Standard 5, I was reading classics such as Of Human Bondage, Woman of Rome, Illiad and Odyssey etc.
I regret that when my mom died, I sold off most of my comic collection to the second hand bookstalls along Macalister Road to get $$$ to feed my reading addiction! The money I earned, I spent it to rent more books! Without mom around, it meant that I did not get to buy the books I wanted. I still have the first book that I could read and all the books mom gave me for my birthday, even my book prizes. Sighs...
But of all the literature I read, I do confess I enjoy comics best.
Beano, Dandy, Dennis the Menace, Marvel and DC Comics and of course Groo by Sergio Aragones are my favorites but the one I love most is MAD. REALLY!!!!
Today, I had a lively exchange with two friends in Facebook about MAD and here are some of the comments expressed:
Me: Ah we share the same interests...last month, i managed to buy 7 copies of MAD dated to 1970 :-). Collectors edition :-) *grins widely*________________________________________
10 hours ago · Like · 2 people
J: I HATE YOU MWS!
And I love folding those back pages too. Cracks me up every single time. Whoever came up with those things month after month are just brilliant. They should win some sort of awards instead of being relegated as just "a Mad artist". :-)
I haven't allowed my kids' grubby fingers touch my old comics yet. Maybe will never.
9 hours ago · Unlike · 2 people
Me: Btw, I hope you vacuum seal your old comics. I collect all kinds of comics fr Groo, Spiderman, Superman, Marvel, DC etc :-)
9 hours ago · Like
J : hehe, teasing ya, and actually, I'm not kidding when I say I don't vacuum seal. Back then, I used to love some supernatural comics as well. Van Helsing stuff, stories about mad scientists making a monster out of electricity and dead human flesh, aliens from outer space investigating earth, astronauts flying into another planet to find himself a giant there, a 2 bit thief playing around with spirits in a haunted house found that the spirits made him invisible to the living. Can't touch, can't talk, can't rob, can't do anything. Very 1950s type stories.
Don't ask me how I got hold of those comics as I can't remember how I did it, but they were soooo cool. I'd love to get hold of similar stuff. It would be awesome to read them.
8 hours ago · Like
Me: Cool!!! I still have my Dandy, Beano comics, June and School Days comics and Annuals from the 1960s. A bit torn and tattered from over-handling :-). Oooo gorey stuff u described but i love that too...Are you into manga? I am eyeing a hardback collection of MAD but the price is enough to drive me and hubby to cardiac arrest. Still, I will get that one day....You should read GROO by Sergio Aragones of MAD. Tragically, we can't get them any more in Penang or KL. Sighs..
8 hours ago · Like · 1 person
Walt: There was a a method to the madness.
"The magazine often featured parodies of ongoing American advertising campaigns, the nuclear family, the media, big business, education, publishing, and other concerns. In the 1960s and beyond, it satirized such burgeoning topics as the sexual revolution, hippies, psychoanalysis, gun control, pollution, the Vietnam War, and recreational drug use. The magazine gave equal time, generally negative, to counterculture drugs such as cannabis as well as taking a savage approach toward mainstream drugs such as tobacco and alcohol (although "Irving," a non sequitur image which appeared in the background of many articles, was a cannabis plant). Although one can detect a generally liberal tone, Mad always slammed Democrats as mercilessly as Republicans. The magazine also ran a good deal of less-topical material on such varied topics as fairy tales and nursery rhymes, greeting cards, sports, small talk, poetry, marriage, comic strips, awards shows, cars and many other areas of general interest.
In 1994, The Humanist's Brian Siano discussed Mad's eye-opening qualities:
For the smarter kids of two generations, Mad was a revelation: it was the first to tell us that the toys we were being sold were garbage, our teachers were phonies, our leaders were fools, our religious counselors were hypocrites, and even our parents were lying to us about damn near everything. An entire generation had William Gaines for a godfather: this same generation later went on to give us the sexual revolution, the environmental movement, the peace movement, greater freedom in artistic expression, and a host of other goodies. Coincidence? You be the judge.
Pulitzer Prize-winning art comics maven Art Spiegelman said, "The message MAD had in general is 'The media is lying to you, and we are part of the media.' It was basically... 'Think for yourselves, kids.'" William Gaines offered his own view: when asked to cite Mad's philosophy, his boisterous answer was, "We must never stop reminding the reader what little value they get for their money!" (Source not cited in the exchange)
5 hours ago · Unlike · 2 people
J: Man, and all this time I bought these babies cause it's mindlessly funny :-D
20 minutes ago · Like
Me: I spent my sixth form days reading MAD magazine in the school library rather than hitting the books hehe...but i have no regrets! I believe MAD really shaped my thinking skills.
20 minutes ago · Like
Form 1 and Form 2 was my romantic years as I was so into Barbara Cartland, Mills and Boon, Han Su-Yin, Pearl S Buck.
By the time I was in Form 3, my ambition then was not topping the class but reading every single book in the library. I think I managed to do that by the end of Form 4.
When I was in Form 5, I was reading contemporary fiction, having devoured all the great classics such as Gone with the Wind, North and South, Forsythe Saga etc. and spent more time reading Sidney Sheldon and other espionage novels. I remember hiding my novels in my Biology textbook and sitting on the bed pretending to study so that if my father popped his head to check on me, he would think I was studying.
Er...somehow, that seemed to be in my kids' DNA cos both my boys did that too :-).
I could go on and on but I will end here and say that the greatest treasure is my life is not $$$ cos I am not a rich woman but my book collection! Currently, I am not allowed to buy any more books as there is no place in the house for any more. There are books every where in my home from the sitting room to dining room to kitchen. My study is filled to the brim with books and my computer room too. Hubby is NOT happy as I ahem selfishly reclassified the storage system and er....his books are in the open shelves :-). Sighs...My rationale is that my books are collectors' items!!!! :-) You can see some of my book collection if you scroll down to My Library...
And so, I go for e-books now - environment-friendly and a terrific way to save space and money.
I cannot imagine where I would be if I did not love reading.
Truly, I am so thankful to my parents for encouraging me to read. Fortunately, I have passed on this love to both my boys. Both my boys could read before they were two. They went through the Macmillan series (better than Peter and Jane anytime!) and also the Peter and Jane series before they were 4.
My older boy stopped reading in Form 3 and picked it up again with the Harry Potter series. Each time he comes home, he wants to take some of my books back with him to KL but has not done so as he is hardly ever free. My younger boy is a voracious reader. By the time he was 5, the younger one had devoured all the books that my older boy finished reading when he was 12. Nick started reading classics such as Great Expectations and Journey to the Centre of the Earth when he was 7. He loves the Adrian Mole series and is now reading "Cleo" - a gift from Cat-in-Sydney.
His school exam just started and Nick is still reading his 'Cleo", "Horrible Science", "Mutiara Naga/Dragon Ball" comics which he hides under his pillow, under his bed etc and I have to actually ask him to put those aside and study first!
So sorry - I can write LOTS about reading. Wherever you are, may you continue to enjoy reading and if you have kids, do encourage them to read. Do leave a comment to share your thoughts about reading.
Take care and have a wonderful week ahead!
Starmandala Whaddaya know... I grew up on MAD magazine too... though I began a bit earlier, in the early 1960s when MAD was available in the form of paperbacks (printed on really thin yellow paper) selling for less than 10 (Malaysian) dollars.... The artist responsible for the famous back-cover fold-in teasers was Al Jaffee who's now 90.