When I was a kid I loved DC Comics. Superman, Batman, Flash, loved ‘em. But now they’ve become PC Comics as Superman slips out of the binary world which has constrained him, mercilessly, for 50 years. Nothing else could constrain him, not steel nor concrete nor nuffink other than Green Kryptonite. But now, Superman can finally be true to the more gender fluid superhero he’s always wanted to be. And kissed a man!! In the newest ‘episode’ of the comic, they’ve had a young Superman kissing a boy in a decidedly ‘beyond-man-hug’ kind’a way. The Man of Steel has come out of the Supercloset. Do I care? No. But I’m not Lois Lane!!! She must be devastated.

So we’re in Dresden, which is quite wonderful, quite other-worldly and quite biiiiiiiiigggg. And its pissing down. So we invested a few Euros to go see the exhibition of porcelain at the Zwinger. Oh, come on, keep up, that’s the ancient palace of the rulers of Saxony which was totally destroyed in the war, levelled to the ground, and rebuilt afterwards in exact replication of its original everything. And quite amazing. Hence, a bit ‘other worldly’. And Dresden is famous for china.

Which is why it seemed a bit odd to enter massive chambers filled with… china. From China. And remember, back in the 1600 and 1700s, China was not so famous for murders, overthrowing the world, human rights abuse and totalitarianism as it was for making lovely vases. Which have endured. After 500 years these pieces, massive, beautiful, hand-painted, are still perfect. In a city flattened just 70 years ago. Whereas your iphone is obselete after 15 months when the next version comes out. I think that says a lot.

Pride of place, for me, in light of the ‘Superman-gate’ story which came out (no pun) this morning, was this rather becoming figure from 1750. Looks like a fab hair-do. Could be a turban. (It is Persian). Looks like a dress? Could be a coat. For me the whole vibe is ‘woman’, ‘female’, ‘girly’. And then there’s the moustache. Which would sit well with the original hypothesis if the character was over 50 and Greek, but I feel she’s neither. Hence, Houston, we have a pronoun issue here, over…

Happy Tuesday

A xxxx