If we’ve been an employee rather than an entrepreneur or businessperson for most parts of our working life, most of us would probably not be eligible to join the Million Dollar Club.
Even for those of you who’re frequent flyers, the chances that you’d qualify for a Million Mile Club are probably not that high, too.
On the other hand, for an obscene number of us who’ve made at least a million mistakes, we’re likely to meet the criteria of becoming a member of the “Million Mistake Club.”
If you’re the lucky ones who’d never qualify for this notorious club, congratulations to you for living a life defined by manifold successes and few failures, either because you’re blessed with an Einstein brain (or born with a silver spoon in the mouth), or you’re simply averse to taking any risks (which would help reduce your failure rate).
An Age Problem
On average, guesstimate how young or old someone in most parts of the world would be by the time they make their millionth mistake. In their late 20s or early 30s? Go ahead and figure this out—it’s good for your left brain!
In TrumpLand (plagued by an unrighteous party and ruled by a self-righteous party), PutinLand (misruled by self-glory and orthodox church history), or XiLand (ruled by capitalist dictatorship and hostage diplomacy), what percentage of their politicians and prisoners (or even prosperity pastors) might have already joined the “Billion Mistake Club,” or are about to do so if they’d live beyond the three- or four-scores-and-ten lifespan?
A nation of aged oft-morally corrupt politicians and presidents
The Positives of a Million Mistake Club Member
Do you qualify as a member of the Million Mistake Club? If you’re a life member like me, what are the chances that you’d be a lot nicer to others by then?
Wouldn’t the world be a better rather than a bitter place if we celebrated members of the Million Mistake Club (instead of canceling or condemning them)?
Think of ex-convicts who’re now a free man or woman after paying for their mistakes. Or those who’ve been pardoned or released early for good behavior.
A screen shot stolen while attending a service
Why not uninhibitedly post on social media that you’ve joined the Million Mistake Club, and as a result your friends, fans, and followers could positively expect a different you—someone who’s less critical or condemning.
A new you who’s more understanding, forgiving and gracious, and less on comparing, competing, and complaining.
Of course, it’s easier preached than practiced, but nevertheless embarking on a life of contentment and consensus is the beginning of a life journey that would bear much fruit now and in future.
Remember: Your past doesn’t define you. What counts in the end: It’s not so much how you start, but how you finish.
Remembering Prof. Calculus’s Inventions & Innovations
Meet Professor Cuthbert Calculus, a polymath—a geeky jack of all trades—who was at home in many disciplines ranging from astronautics and astrophysics to geometry and geodetics to mathematics and thermodynamics.
The beloved clumsy and eccentric professor, or the absent-minded mad scientist par excellence, applied his mathematical and scientific knowledge to launch his futuristic inventions and innovations.
A Tribute to Calculus
To celebrate Professor Calculus, who first appeared 80 years ago in Hergé’s 12th Tintin book, Red Rackham’s Treasure (1943), the recently published Professor Calculus: Science’s Forgotten Genius (2023) by Albert Algoud—the original French edition first came out in 1994—paid a funny tribute to one of the most endearing scientific geniuses in children’s literature.
Over the course of 54 years, Hergé (Georges Remi) who’s born in Brussels in 1907, completed over 20 titles in The Adventures of Tintin series, which is now considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comics series of all time.
The Harry Potter Series of Yesteryear
More than 230 million copies of Tintin’s series have been sold, which proves that comic books have the same power to entertain children and adults in the 21st century as they did in the early 20th.
Tintin’s Series for Girls
Moons ago, when my daughters were in elementary or middle school, I introduced them to some Tintin’s titles. To my surprise, they’d quasi-zero interest in Tintin & Milou’s (or Snowy’s) stories, because they couldn’t relate to the male or chauvinistic, not to say, colonialist, characters.
Flipping through the pages, and taking a deeper look at Hergé’s characters, I realized that the girls weren’t wrong. The number of pages in each book depicting female characters is probably fewer than the fingers in a hand.
It’s no surprise that Hergé had been accused of sexism for the almost complete lack of female characters in his “boys books.” In fact, few people would disagree today that most (white) men from that era were racist, sexist, and misogynist.
Hergé himself denied being a misogynist, saying that “for me, women have nothing to do in a world like Tintin’s, which is the realm of male friendship.”
Tintin’s Gender
On a lighter note, Tintin himself has been labeled as being strongly feminized, especially in relation to Captain Haddock, with the hypothesis that he’s of virtually indeterminate gender.
More than half a dozen years ago, French philosopher Vincent Cespede made the headlines when he claimed that Tintin is “an androgynous redhead with blue eyes” and “presumably asexual.”
A Christmas Gift for Boys (and Girls?)
If you’ve a teenage son, grandson, or nephew, I think giving away a few Tintin’s titles would be an apt Christmas gift for them; however, for a daughter, granddaughter, or goddaughter, you’d probably want to think twice or thrice before prematurely exposing them to any of Hergé’s predominantly male white characters.
In today’s politicians’ slogan of inclusiveness or political correctness, I wonder whether The Adventures of Tintin series might even be banned in some feminist or woke circles. After all, if we recall that the Harry Potter series was not only banned from some school’s library after educators consulted with exorcists in the US and Rome, but also in some conservative Christian and radical Islamist circles.
The same could also be said for math classics like Edwin Abbott Abbott’s Flatland (1884), which directly or indirectly exposes social classes and white supremacy. Or titles like George Orwell’s 1984 that was banned in both Soviet Union and China.
The Calculus Affair
Tintin’s puzzle: How to rescue Prof. Calculus who’s in danger.
In The Calculus Affair, Tintin witnessed some very strange events like the simultaneous shattering of windows, mirrors, and chandeliers, leaving him bewildered. After a shooting and a break-in, Tintin knew Prof. Calculus was in danger, but he had only one clue—an unusual packet of cigarettes.
Could he solve the mystery before a terrible weapon fell into the wrong hands?Could he act in time to protect Professor Calculus?
Calculus’s brain. Fr: Albert Algoud’s Professor Calculus: Science’s Forgotten Genius (2023)
The Adventures of Tintin Series
If you’re a Tintin fan old and new, especially a lover of graphic novels, mysteries, and historical adventures, how many of the 20-odd titles of Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin series have you read?
What’s your favorite Tintin’s title?
Tintin in the Land of the Soviets Aimed at communicating an anti-communist sentiment to the young reader? Banned in Ukraine?
Tintin in America Placed in a restricted access section of the Jones Library in Amherst, MA in 2014 for its “racist imagery.”
Cigars of the Pharaoh
The Blue Lotus Would Japanese nationalists call for its ban?
The Broken Ear
The Black Island
King Ottakar’s Sceptre
The Crab with the Golden Claws
The Shooting Star
The Secret of the Unicorn
Red Rackham’s Treasure First printed 80 years ago.
The Seven Crystal Balls
Prisoners of the Sun
Land of Black Gold
Destination Moon
Explorers of the Moon
The Calculus AffairA mathematician’s favorite?
The Red Sea Sharks
Tintin in TibetPraised by the Dalai Lama, who awarded it the Light of Truth Award. Banned in China?
The Castafiore Emerald
Flight 714 to Sydney
The Adventures of Tintin and the Picaros
Tintin and Alph-Art
Tintin in the CongoThe racist content: colonial attitude vis-à-vis Congolese people and for glorifying big-game hunting.
In my childhood days, I read most of Tintin’s titles in its original French, which is probably the language of choice to reading them, especially for those who’re bilingual, trilingual, or multilingual. I hope to reread the series in another language in my golden years.
