Stay F---! | July 28
Carrie McLaren
stay.free at verizon.net
Thu Jul 28 17:07:30 EDT 2005
NEW FROM STAY F---! MAGAZINE
Home Movie Day is just around the corner -- August 13 -- so I thought
I'd post the interview we did with the founders last year (from Stay
Free! #23):
Reel People
Chances are those old Laurel & Hardy prints sitting in your basement
aren't nearly as valuable as your mom's home movies. The founders of
Home Movie Day talk about amateur films and what they can teach us.
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/23/home-movie-day.html
Also, from #24:
Eugene Mirman "About Town"
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/24/eugene-mirman-restaurants.html
Mr. Mirman reviews Brooklyn restaurants, but this is worth reading
even if you plan to never step foot here 'cos Eugene is brilliant.
- - - - -
The following items are recent highlights from our blog. For full
text, links, images, and a bunch more articles, visit
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org
EARN MORE IN ONE EASY LESION
The Wall Street Journal reports that a bit of brain damage can make
you a better investor.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/earn_more_in_on.html
PLEASE TURN OFF CELLPHONES DURING NAPTIME
Disney has announced they are teaming up with Sprint to market cell
phones for 8-12 year old children. Models will be simple and have
only 5 buttons, so the kids can't text message...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/please_put_cell.html
CALLING ALL GNOMES
Despite the mass of accumulated evidence that drinking alcohol does,
in fact, make people more attractive, Britain's Advertising Standards
Authority has recently issued an edict that alcohol companies have to
stop using hot models in their ads...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/calling_all_gno_1.html
WAL-MART PITCHES BROOKLYN
National discount retailer Wal-Mart is trying to open a store in New
York City, and specifically Brooklyn...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/walmart_brookly.html
THOUGHTS ON FREAKONOMICS
Freakonomics, the best-seller by economist Steven Levitt and his
wordsmith, Stephen Dubner, has been getting a lot of attention and I
can see why: Levitt is a creative thinker whose practical concerns
extend beyond the question of how to make money. An economist that
isn't deathly boring? Yes, yes, sign me up. Yet something about this
breezy read, with its interesting anecdotes and surprising
conclusions, made me suspicious...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/on_freakonomics.html
MCDONALD'S OWNS YOUR NAME
McDonald's has interceded in an Australian trademark action to keep a
local rugby team sponsor from getting a trademark on his own
nickname. Malcolm McBratney - who goes by McBrat - applied for a
trademark for his nickname to sell clothing to other fans of Brisbane
Irish....
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/mcdonalds_owns_.html
THE UNLIKELY BATTLE OVER "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION"
Remember trademark hoarder man? You know, Leo Stoller, the guy
Charles wrote about earlier, the one who essentially claims to own
all usages of the word "stealth," along with a number of other common
expressions? Stoller, you may recall, makes his living by sending
frivolous cease-and-desist notices to companies, who pay him off --
despite their legal rights -- because it's cheaper to settle than
fight.
Since one of the phrases Stoller claims to own is "freedom of
expression," Charles contacted our man Kembrew McLeod, who
trademarked that phrase a few years ago. Kembrew, in turn, is now
giving Stoller a taste of his own medicine and are demanding that he
cease and desist from using the phrase.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/kembrew_tradema.html
VIDEO GAME ECONOMIES
I know next to nothing about video games but these articles about
multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPG) made for great
reading. Article #1 reports on hi-tech sweatshops that employ the
Chinese poor to play video games for cents per hour... though, as the
article explains, "play" isn t really the word because the
character-development work involved is mind-numbingly repetitive...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/video_game_econ.html
EMPTY SENTIMENT
Further evidence of the magnetic ribbon backlash, a Boston artist,
Deirdre Doyle, has created "Empty Sentiment" ribbons. There is a
short interview with her in the Boston Phoenix...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/empty_sentiment.html
STAY F---! SEEKING SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE #25
We're gearing up for another issue of Stay F---! magazine and welcome
new contributors. There will be something of a theme this time:
hoaxes and pranks. But we're always up for features that don't fit
the theme. If you have an ideas for humor pieces, interviews, photo
essays, or other story ideas that you think would fit the mag, email
me a note pitching the idea and include samples of your work (ideally
URLs) with it - stay.free (at) verizon.net or cm (at)
stayfreemagazine.org
More info at:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/stay_free_seeki.html
F*** THIS BOOK
Seemingly out of the blue, this wonderful little book with the punk
rock title appeared in the mail. The concept is terribly juvenile --
Bodhi Oser places stickers that say F*** over everyday street signs
and other notices, then photographs them--but the results are so
hilarious you can't help but be charmed by them.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/fuck_book.html
FLASH MOBS BY FORD?
Ford is touting its forthcoming Fusion compact car via the
digital/sociological phenomenon of "flash mobs"...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/flash_mobs_by_f.html
THE STORK
At a Fourth of July party this weekend, I saw this hilarious animated
short by Nina Paley. I'm not going to describe it; just watch it.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/the_stork.html
"YOUR BLOG IS IMPORTANT TO US"
There's been a lot of talk on the ad-o-sphere lately about various
ways corporations are using blogs, not only for promotion but for
market research. Blogs are seen as sort of high-tech focus group
promising company X insights into its brand. What's funny is how so
many marketers want to get the gist of what blogs are saying without
actually having to read them...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/blog_analysis.html
U.S. WORKERS TOO UNEDUCATED TO BUILD CARS?
Toyota announced it will build a new car factory in Woodstock,
Ontario, even though several US states offered greater subsidies and
tax breaks to the company. The reason? "Nissan and Honda have
encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in
recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained - and
often illiterate - workforce..."
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/07/workers_in_the_.html
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND (REPRISE)
After a series of shitty Supreme Court decisions, I was psyched to
see one developer's response to the eminent domain case -- you know,
the ruling that says that the government can take over your house if
some corporation offering promising greater tax revenue wants it. The
deciding vote was cast by Justice David Souter. So Logan Darrow
Clements, a private developer in The Towne of Weare, New Hampshire,
is seeking to build a hotel on Souter's house:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/this_land_is_yo_1.html
ROBOT TO ROBOT MARKETING
A couple of Stay Frees ago, we interviewed a man who creates robots
for corporate marketing. These days, robot man has a lot of company.
Several firms have sprouted up with hi-tech creatures designed to
sell things to consumers, whether by cuddling with them, chatting
them up, modeling clothes, or working as animated billboards. A
Japanese company has even introduced in-store mannequins that do
doubletime as spies....
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/robot_advertisi.html
MANY MORE ARTICLES AT:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org
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