Shirt.Woot

eHalcyon wrote:Ok, sure... I guess I was thrown off because the illustration makes it look stumpy, whereas all the photos I'm looking at depict it as humpy, i.e. more rounded on top.

THANK YOU! That's what I've been saying all along, and everybody's been crucifying me for it!

kashmirton wrote:since always? I think the magician usually has one end fully in his hand so you don't see it

Nuh-uh. I used to have a wand. My brother used to have a wand. We MADE wands. They were white on ONE end.

xxchange wrote:Oh yes. Him too. Can you believe all these people dying? There must be a curse or something on celebrities fifty or over.

That's four deaths, actually, though. Reminds me a bit of my freshman year of high school.

It's five if you count Carradine (June 3).

xxchange wrote:Nuh-uh. I used to have a wand. My brother used to have a wand. We MADE wands. They were white on ONE end.

Personal preference, I think. A quick Google Images search shows wands with white on only one end as well as both ends.

HOLD IT.

WHY better that giraffe be a Republican? Should I be getting ready to be offended, Woot?

Maybe it's all a euphemism, Abe is emancipating some "white rabbit ears" by "choking his giraffe"?

burns11 wrote:Maybe it's all a euphemism, Abe is emancipating some "white rabbit ears" by "choking his giraffe"?

Funny. Until you wrote that, I never noticed 'euphemism' had 'a' as its preceding article. Huh.

Took me a while to get this shirt. Quite clever use of symbolism. For those who don't get it...

Stay with me.

Abe is freeing the giraffe from the hat.

Abe = Abe

Griffine = Africa = Africans = Slaves

Fancy top hat = Wealthy people = plantations owners = South

Got it, people? Good.

caspianta wrote:am i taking this the wrong way, or is this the most offensive thing ever? likening the man who is remembered for ending slavery (emancipating) to a magician who's...i dunno...getting PETA upset by forcing an abused giraffe be a part of a trick. i'm kind of ashamed of woot for producing this shirt...for me it goes a little too far.

It could be worse. Abe could have a bullet hole in his forehead.

Eh, i'm not a fan of Lincoln because I actually studied him... so wearing a shirt that furthers the notion that he was the "Great Emancipator" is a no-no for me.

Cute idea though.

EdwardBlake wrote:Took me a while to get this shirt. Quite clever use of symbolism. For those who don't get it...

Stay with me.

Abe is freeing the giraffe from the hat.

Abe = Abe

Griffine = Africa = Africans = Slaves

Fancy top hat = Wealthy people = plantations owners = South

Got it, people? Good.

How is he saving the slaves by choking them to death?

LarryLars wrote:It's five if you count Carradine (June 3).

Who's Carradine?

I am totally going to compare after this is over to how this sold to the last Abe shirt, where no one from the south bought it.

M3wThr33 wrote:I am totally going to compare after this is over to how this sold to the last Abe shirt, where no one from the south bought it.

To be fair, the last abe shirt was totally horrible.

I prefer this one, personally - http://shirt.woot.com/friends.aspx?k=5229

And as far as "what it means" is it bad that I merely took it as a play on the fact that "the Great Emancipator" sounds like a magician's name?

Though the giraffe symbolizing Africa part does make sense. I don't really see where that's offensive, though.

Oh, and I have totally worn Woot shirts to the theatre... maybe I should stop because Woot tells me to look nice.

EdwardBlake wrote:Took me a while to get this shirt. Quite clever use of symbolism. For those who don't get it...

Stay with me.

Abe is freeing the giraffe from the hat.

Abe = Abe

Griffine = Africa = Africans = Slaves

Fancy top hat = Wealthy people = plantations owners = South

Got it, people? Good.

What of the rabbit ears? Just a tie-in to the idea of a magic act, or is there symbolism there as well?

Here's some further heavy symbolism for you though: the design is depicting emancipation as an ILLUSION. In essence, the commentary is that slavery was never abolished. We can then interpret this in two different ways - first, that racism is still rampant among us, and second, that we are all still slaves! To consumerism, to greed, to ignorance... whatever you want to make of it.

Hooray for coming up with complicated meaning to everything. I hope MJ comes in and says "I just wanted to draw Abe with a giraffe."

xxchange wrote:How is he saving the slaves by choking them to death?

Better than being cooped up in the hat, no?

Clearly we have a northerner designer here. See, the point of the shirt is that Abe is MAGIC. He's taking the giraffe out of the hat! I mean, you'd have to be magic to get that animal in in the first place. And you know no one but the northerners are going to think highly of Abe. The southerners are still fighting the Civil War, and the rest of the world is using Abe to make fun of the US for not banning slavery until the 1800s.

EdwardBlake wrote:Better than being cooped up in the hat, no?

Well there's a nice suicide-cult attitude for you there.

EdwardBlake wrote:Took me a while to get this shirt. Quite clever use of symbolism. For those who don't get it...

Stay with me.

Abe is freeing the giraffe from the hat.

Abe = Abe

Griffine = Africa = Africans = Slaves

Fancy top hat = Wealthy people = plantations owners = South

Got it, people? Good.

Funny, I was thinking that, because the Giraffe is a fake rabbit, it was a statement about how Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation DIDN'T actually free (m)any slaves....

Which has been up for debate for ages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation#Immediate_impact


That does seem to fit with the Magician concept of Misdirection (Abe gets people focused on slavery to rile them up, but really cares about maintaining the Union)



I could be wrong, but this appears to be a commentary on Remembered History vs. Actual History.

eHalcyon wrote:What of the rabbit ears? Just a tie-in to the idea of a magic act, or is there symbolism there as well?

Here's some further heavy symbolism for you though: the design is depicting emancipation as an ILLUSION. In essence, the commentary is that slavery was never abolished. We can then interpret this in two different ways - first, that racism is still rampant among us, and second, that we are all still slaves! To consumerism, to greed, to ignorance... whatever you want to make of it.

Hooray for coming up with complicated meaning to everything. I hope MJ comes in and says "I just wanted to draw Abe with a giraffe."

The rabbit ears shows that the griffine are being forced to be something that they aren't.

Well, you could could consider it to be Abe's greatest act (as in world's greatest magic show), rather than taking the illusion route.

But ah. Symbolism are fun to play with. So many meanings. I'm reminded of a quote from Albert Camus...

Nothing is harder to understand than a symbolic work. A symbol always transcends the one who makes use of it and makes him say in reality more than he is aware of expressing.

I'm really torn on this shirt...
Do I buy it and constantly wonder what it is really trying to say or just walk away?
GAH!
not easy.

xxchange wrote:Well there's a nice suicide-cult attitude for you there.

Better to leave them in the hat. Gotcha.

MaryESP wrote:Funny, I was thinking that, because the Giraffe is a fake rabbit, it was a statement about how Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation DIDN'T actually free (m)any slaves....

Which has been up for debate for ages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation#Immediate_impact


That does seem to fit with the Magician concept of Misdirection (Abe gets people focused on slavery to rile them up, but really cares about maintaining the Union)



I could be wrong, but this appears to be a commentary on Remembered History vs. Actual History.

Yeah, we still have literal slaves amidst us in America.

Psst. Here's what emancipate means.

e⋅man⋅ci⋅pate
  /ɪˈmænsəˌpeɪt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [i-man-suh-peyt] Show IPA
Use emancipator in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -pat⋅ed, -pat⋅ing.
1. to free from restraint, influence, or the like.
2. to free (a slave) from bondage.

xxchange wrote:Who's Carradine?

actually Gale Storm died today so that makes 6. so hopefully we're done with the famous dead people for a while? (two rounds of 3? i dunno..)

MaryESP wrote:Funny, I was thinking that, because the Giraffe is a fake rabbit, it was a statement about how Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation DIDN'T actually free (m)any slaves....

Exactly.

Abraham Lincoln was a fan of containing slavery only to the South to the point where slavery would no longer be economical in hopes that it would eventually die off.

And it was the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery, NOT the Emancipation Proclamation.

Whoa, Nellies!
Sometimes a Woot shirt is just a Woot shirt.
It is a nod to the old time circus banners with lofty names. Say it to yourself in a scary, magical voice: The Greeeeat Emaaaaancipaaatorrr!
See? No racism. Gee whiz, y'all.
And yeah, his hat was tall. Why waste all that space on a tiny rabbit? Go big or go home!
This proud Illinoisan will take one please!

EdwardBlake wrote:The rabbit ears shows that the griffine are being forced to be something that they aren't.

Well, you could could consider it to be Abe's greatest act (as in world's greatest magic show), rather than taking the illusion route.

But ah. Symbolism are fun to play with. So many meanings. I'm reminded of a quote from Albert Camus...

Just curious, but why do you call the giraffe a "griffine"? I thought maybe it was a name like "bovine", but Wikipedia doesn't list it.

Ahh, Camus. L'Etranger was a trippy book.

EdwardBlake wrote:Yeah, we still have literal slaves amidst us in America.

Just to clarify, I was talking about the Proclamation and Lincoln's effect on slavery, not slavery in general.

In addition, I was expressing beliefs that are common, not necessarily my own feelings on the subject.



Perhaps I should just qualify everything with: ".....from a certain point of view" ;)

eHalcyon wrote:Just curious, but why do you call the giraffe a "griffine"? I thought maybe it was a name like "bovine", but Wikipedia doesn't list it.

Ahh, Camus. L'Etranger was a trippy book.

Ahh, you caught my poor spelling skills. I've been foiled!

I bow to your superior spelling skills.

/Been a horrible speller since I was a wee kid.

serfer0 wrote:Whoa, Nellies!
Sometimes a Woot shirt is just a Woot shirt.
It is a nod to the old time circus banners with lofty names. Say it to yourself in a scary, magical voice: The Greeeeat Emaaaaancipaaatorrr!
See? No racism. Gee whiz, y'all.
And yeah, his hat was tall. Why waste all that space on a tiny rabbit? Go big or go home!
This proud Illinoisan will take one please!

Please listen to this person. Because they are probably right and you are all being average wooters.

EdwardBlake wrote:Ahh, you caught my poor spelling skills. I've been foiled!

I bow to your superior spelling skills.

/Been a horrible speller since I was a wee kid.

OH. Ha, ok then!

AdderXYU wrote:Please listen to this person. Because they are probably right and you are all being average wooters.

As long as we're not playing the race card, is it still ok to attempt to attribute profound political and historical commentary to the design?

Looks to me more like he's choking the giraffe, in which case the only thing he is emancipating it from is LIFE.


DUHN DUHN DUUUUUUHNNN!

AdderXYU wrote:Please listen to this person. Because they are probably right and you are all being average wooters.

Oh, you should be ashamed of yourself for saying that! I read your blog and you've gotten far worse at times. ;)

(Meaning your attempts at interpreting the symbols, not being an average wooter.)

eHalcyon wrote:As long as we're not playing the race card, is it still ok to attempt to attribute profound political and historical commentary to the design?

Oh, certainly! And don't forget the CLEAR references to Lincoln's secretary named KENNEDY and Kennedy's secretary named LINCOLN! It's right there in the cape!

AdderXYU wrote:Please listen to this person. Because they are probably right and you are all being average wooters.

My problem is that I see symbolism in everything. It has kept me from wearing interesting shirts in the past, and I fear this one falls into that category, though it could spark interesting discussions.

Ahuhu, I've already bought my shirt for this week anyway.

infantile8 wrote:actually Gale Storm died today so that makes 6. so hopefully we're done with the famous dead people for a while? (two rounds of 3? i dunno..)

6? Ha! Recent deaths
Deaths this month

(but this probably belongs in Everything But Woot)

serfer0 wrote:Oh, certainly! And don't forget the CLEAR references to Lincoln's secretary named KENNEDY and Kennedy's secretary named LINCOLN! It's right there in the cape!

Abe is holding the wand with his left hand and holding the giraffe's neck with his right. Assuming that Abe is in fact choking the giraffe rather than just pulling it out of the hat, it is interesting to note that this act of violence is being committed with the right hand as opposed to the left hand (the latin word for left is "sinestra", from which we also derive such words as "sinister"). Even as the "good" hand acts horridly, the left hand holds the wand. If we hearken back to our childhood days, we remember that magic is AWESOME. Clearly this reversal of roles suggests that we are all capable of good and evil, and that we should not assume the character of anyone based on our own prejudices and stereotypes.

MaryESP wrote:My problem is that I see symbolism in everything. It has kept me from wearing interesting shirts in the past, and I fear this one falls into that category, though it could spark interesting discussions.

Ahuhu, I've already bought my shirt for this week anyway.

Your seeing symbolism in everything is purely because you wish to see symbolism in everything. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, my dear Freud.