For those who have read some of my blogs you know that it is a hodgepodge of things that have to do with start-up activities, with culture and expat living in general, and with local "nice to knows" if you are an expat living in California/San Francisco.
The team behind the absolutely non-pc cartoon series Scandinavia and The World have given me a chance to write about both culture and start-ups in one and the same blog.
With this Kickstarter campaign they are putting some of their delightful nonsense into a game with game rules that seem just as nonsensical as the cartoons.
You have never heard about SATW?
This is a satirical touch on what is going on in Scandinavia and what the global players look like from a Scandinavian perspective. It is a very odd comic strip because almost all of the strips need explaining. (I guess it is just like "the Cartoonist View" in an American newspaper requires that one knows a little about what goes on in the U.S.)
It is also a cartoon that comes very close to the way Danes move in the world.
Danes are among the people least likely to suffer from gelotophobia.
No, that is not fear of Italian icecream but fear of being laughed at. Danish culture is marred by friendly bantering, puns, wordplay - it is almost a Pavlovian response that if something can be made fun of, it must be made fun of.
Out in the world this becomes one of our less endearing qualities because other peoples don't have the same affinity for being the butt of jokes.
We Danes arrogantly assume that they have no sense of humor while we unwittingly - albeit not quite unwittily if you ask us - offend left and right. Forgive us - we mean well and would never honor you with a joke if we don't like you.
So with this preamble warning you that you may be offended by the stereotypes: the hard drinking Danes, the quiet Finns, the Swedish sex-bomb and a plethora of other nationalities speared on Humon's sharp pencil, do enjoy the cartoon (and do check out the entertaining FAQ on the Kickstarter project.) Who knows, you may end up wanting a new board game for the long dark evenings ahead.
Winter is coming, you know.
(To enlarge the cartoon illustrating this post, click on the picture and use the "previous page arrow" to get back to the blog.)