Here’s Paul on today’s filial and aromatic cartoon (click to enlarge!):
I dedicate this cartoon to my dad, C. Brian Morris, whose life’s work has been on Spanish surrealism. He is the author of such books as Surrealism and Spain 1920-1936, This Loving Darkness: The Cinema and Spanish Writers, 1920-1936, and Son of Andalusia: The Lyrical Landscapes of Federico Garcia Lorca.

More by Paul Morris: Enter our exciting contest to name the upside-down question-mark! Entries accepted until August 25. Plus, “The Wavy Rule” archive; “Arnjuice,” a wistful, funny webcomic; a smorgasbord of multimedia at Flickr; and beautifully off-kilter cartoon collections for sale and free download at Lulu.

Here’s Paul on today’s politically minded cartoon (click to enlarge):
“The Chameleon,” David Grann’s recent New Yorker story about con man Frédéric Bourdin, inspired this cartoon, as did the tragic and dangerous situation in South Ossetia. And yup, that’s S. Ossetia’s de facto flag.

More by Paul Morris: Enter our exciting contest to name the upside-down question-mark! Entries accepted until August 25. Plus, “The Wavy Rule” archive; “Arnjuice,” a wistful, funny webcomic; a smorgasbord of multimedia at Flickr; and beautifully off-kilter cartoon collections for sale and free download at Lulu.

Today, Paul contemplates the impending revival of damp pleats. On a related note, how big is steampunk really? Does anyone know? Tell us in comments! We’re a bit a skeptical here. As always, click to enlarge.

More by Paul Morris: Enter our exciting contest to name the upside-down question-mark! Entries accepted until August 25. Plus, “The Wavy Rule” archive; “Arnjuice,” a wistful, funny webcomic; a smorgasbord of multimedia at Flickr; and beautifully off-kilter cartoon collections for sale and free download at Lulu.

Each Friday, the Emdashes summer interns bring us the news from the ultimate Rossosphere: the blogs and podcasts at newyorker.com. Here’s this week’s report.
Sarah Arkebauer
The Cartoon Lounge was brimming with gems this week. Zachary Kanin continued his Sandwich Duel with a fourth installment, this one featuring Tony Danza. Chris Onstad fired back with his own endorsement—from Mick Jagger. I was delighted to see that Kanin interviewed Josh Fruhlinger, the man behind the Comics Curmudgeon, which is one of my favorite blogs. [You’re not alone! —Ed.] Since I read Mary Worth, Rex Morgan, M.D., and Apartment 3-G daily, I couldn’t have been happier to see Kanin post not just one but two of his own soap-opera strips. I can assure you that they’re fresher and funnier than the newspaper soaps.
The Book Bench this week included a thoughtful remembrance of Mahmoud Darwish. The post contains a hauntingly charming excerpt from his poem “Remainder of a Life,” which The New Yorker published in 2007. This week’s posts also included a scintillating “In the News” feature in which I discovered provocative tidbits about nursing home patrons, Guitar Hero, and Gordon Brown. I also enjoyed the treasure trove of fun facts in the post about pollster John Zogby’s new book.
Goings On posted eloquent memorials of Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. Both posts include thoughtful insights on their careers and characteristic video clips. The blog also put up two rather bizarre posts. One is an examination of the food it takes to fuel Super-Olympian (and my current personal hero) Michael Phelps; the sheer amount of food he eats every day is unbelievable (especially since he doesn’t cook). The second bizarre piece posted was a report on Pascal Henry, the man who disappeared while eating his way through every Michelin 3-star restaurant in Europe.
I got a surprise this week from The Rest is Noise: Alex Ross offered some insights on the Olympic opening ceremonies. I hope he permanently returns from summer hiatus soon!
I was excited to see a new Fiction Podcast up for August this week. The post is of Jeffrey Eugenides reading Harold Brodkey’s short story “Spring Fugue.” I wasn’t very familiar with Brodkey before listening to the podcast, but I liked what I heard. Even though spring is far away, Brodkey’s crackling descriptions of allergies and love and other springtime tropes felt close and familiar.
Adam Shoemaker
This week in “Notes on politics, mostly”, Hendrik Hertzberg takes umbrage at a respectable publishing house’s willingness to put forth a less than respectable attack on Barack Obama. He also shares the latest McCain attack ad and suggests that the Republican contender (as well as the other fogies of American politics) are in a snit because the junior senator from Illinois has made them seem, well, uncool. Two more McCain moves that have Hertzberg upset: drilling (he thinks it would merely be a drop in the bucket—but that we have to pay for the bucket) and a clever little move we might call the preemptive “not playing the race card” approach.
Sasha Frere-Jones considers the state of the bass guitar, and tallies up the possible causes of its recent marginalization; he also shares his observations on Thom Yorke’s “new rave moves.” This Radiohead fan was glad to hear that its lead singer has moved on from the neck bashing of a few years hence, which surely verged on vertebrate-snapping. Last Friday, Frere-Jones, in a list-making mood, offered readers a list of musical events organized by his predicted reception, from “Robust, Calm Happiness” to “Hiring People to Throw Themselves in Front of These Things So They Don’t Accidentally Brush Against Me.”
George Packer didn’t write anything this week in “Interesting Times.” A year ago, though, he wrote Karl Rove’s epitaph, an act that, despite the Bush advisor’s resignation that week, might have been a bit premature. Packer’s prediction was right, though, and now that the “Boy Genius” has been reduced to mere punditry, I wonder whether Packer would maintain that his statement then, that “the Rove approach to governing helped lose Iraq,” still applies, or if hope has sprung in the year since his demise—a development that might be described by Rove’s other nickname.
I also dug into the archives of New Yorker Out Loud this week to indulge myself in Matt Dellinger’s interview with Burkhard Bilger back in April, when the magazine published Bilger’s article on Art Rosenbaum and Lance Ledbetter’s quest to hunt down the last of Southern folk music. It was this piece that inspired me to purchase Goodbye Bablyon this summer, whose nailed wooden box—stuffed with raw cotton—and old-timey typography helps illustrate the strangely seductive power of the “authentic,” on which Bilger muses in the interview. He claims, and I believe it, that although few people pick up gems like Goodbye Babylon and The Art of Field Recording, those who do invariably want to start making music themselves. I’m thinking I’ll start with a banjo—or maybe an mbira.
Last but not least, The Borowitz Report manages to conjure up two of our potent Sino-fears: Chinese lead paint and allegations of the country’s duplicitous Olympic committee. The gold medals, Andy Borowitz reports, have been found to have high lead content. Normally I’d have no reason to doubt Mr. Borowitz. But, writing as I am from China, I can’t help but note the medal count. One would hope that this rising Olympic power might be a little more careful not to poison its own, especially considering the effects of lead on young children.
Previous intern roundups: the August 8 report; the August 1 report; the July 25 report; the July 18 report; the July 11 report.

Today the artist cops to a flight of fancy, based on a term that’s much in the news lately. (“Irrigation” is the term for what you do when the dentist asks you to spit.) Click to enlarge!

More by Paul Morris: Enter our exciting contest to name the upside-down question-mark! Entries accepted until August 25. Plus, “The Wavy Rule” archive; “Arnjuice,” a wistful, funny webcomic; a smorgasbord of multimedia at Flickr; and beautifully off-kilter cartoon collections for sale and free download at Lulu.