Tommy the Russkie Tank-tank
[ by Charles Cameron — A Russian tanker-toy saga ]
.
Another contribution to the maxcro / micro, war / games displays in my mental cabinet of wonders:
I’m sorry, this was about the only screen-grab I could manage that showed both the toy tank and its war-fighting seniors. In the children’s story, the toy tank gets left at the tank museum overnight, and is shocked and awed by the realities of which it is but a simulacrum — the OT 76, T 72, and most particularly the T-14 Armata super-tank.
The equation war : war games :: T-14 : toy tank eiher understates the significnce of the T-14 or exaggerates that of the toy — but equations between simulacrum and reality lie at the heart of such philosophical excursions as Baudrillard‘s Simulacra and Simulations, with its phony epigraph, a simulacrum of a quote from Ecclesiastes:
The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth—it is the truth which conceals that there is none.
In the case of this children’s book, we can postulate another equation: Russia : propaganda :: factory : advertising.
But see for yourself, some of the details are hilarious:
"Countries where there are wars buy tanks from our factory". A Russian tank factory has published this book for children. A video review. pic.twitter.com/JtkLC7HZJP
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) April 16, 2017
April 17th, 2017 at 5:59 pm
Still on the subject of simulacra:
.
This Site Sells Replica ISIS Suicide Vests and Pressure Cooker Bombs
.
This beauty comes via the admirable Justin Seitz:
.
These vests and other accoutrements, please note, are for emergency response and CT training purposes.
.
Nor can they hope to match the charms of Suicide Vest Barbie, as displayed on the cover of the UK paperback edition of Mia Bloom’s book, Bombshell: The Many Faces of Women Terrorists:
.