Stay F---! | March 15
Carrie McLaren
stay.free at verizon.net
Tue Mar 15 13:13:26 EST 2005
Howdy. Here are a few recent highlights from our new blog. There's more
stuff, including photos, at:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/
THE DARK SIDE OF NET COMMUNITIES
A fews weeks back, I was on a panel with Clay Shirky, who spoke
eloquently on a serious drawback of the internet as a basis for
community. One of his students had been working for the online wing of
a popular magazine for teen girls; she told him that the magazine ended
up having to shut down its health chatrooms because girls were using
them to trade tips on starving themselves. I was reminded of this when
I stumbled across a “pro-ana” (that is, pro-anorexia) website the other
day...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/the_dark_side_o.html
ORWELL ROLLS OVER IN HIS GRAVE
Sunday New York Times features an important investigation on the U.S.
government’s increasing production and distribution of fake news
stories to TV news networks across the country. Any doubt that the
current administration yearns for a bigger, better Pravda can be put to
rest with some of the mind-boggling hypocrisies chronicled here.
Remember last month how the Government Accounting Office (GAO) said
federal agencies may not produce prepackaged news reports “that conceal
or do not clearly identify for the television viewing audience that the
agency was the source of those materials”? Well, on Friday, the Justice
Department and the Office of Management and Budget told all executive
brand agencies to ignore the GAO findings because they failed to
distinguish between propaganda and “purely iHowdy. Here are a few
recent highlights from our new blog. There’s more stuff, including
photos, at:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/
THE DARK SIDE OF NET COMMUNITIES
A fews weeks back, I was on a panel with Clay Shirky, who spoke
eloquently on a serious drawback of the internet as a basis for
community. One of his students had been working for the online wing of
a popular magazine for teen girls; she told him that the magazine ended
up having to shut down its health chatrooms because girls were using
them to trade tips on starving themselves. I was reminded of this when
I stumbled across a “pro-ana” (that is, pro-anorexia) website the other
day...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/the_dark_side_o.html
ORWELL ROLLS OVER IN HIS GRAVE
Sunday New York Times features an important investigation on the U.S.
government’s increasing production and distribution of fake news
stories to TV news networks across the country. Any doubt that the
current administration yearns for a bigger, better Pravda can be put to
rest with some of the mind-boggling hypocrisies chronicled here.
Remember last month how the Government Accounting Office (GAO) said
federal agencies may not produce prepackaged news reports “that conceal
or do not clearly identify for the television viewing audience that the
agency was the source of those materials”? Well, on Friday, the Justice
Department and the Office of Management and Budget told all executive
brand agencies to ignore the GAO findings because they failed to
distinguish between propaganda and “purely informational” news
segments....
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/orwell_rolls_ov.html
SIGN THE FREE PRESS PETITION TO COMBAT FAKE NEWS
http://www.freepress.net/action/petition.php?n=fakenews
OF ICE CREAM, AND HOMOGENIZATION
Posted by Jack Silbert
I have an opinion piece on page 17 of the New Jersey section of The New
York Times today; It deals with that nefarious chain, Cold Stone
Creamery, running an independent Hoboken ice cream shop out of
business. The Times doesn’t post regional-section content till after
the 7-day free window, so I’ve copied it below.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/if_you_are_in_n.html
INTERVIEW WITH EUGENE MIRMAN, COMEDIAN
We’ve got a new issue of Stay Free! coming out in May, which means it’s
time to get the last issue online. So here’s an interview with Brooklyn
comic Eugene Mirman, along with his commentary on various Park Slope
hangouts (both from SF! issue #23). Mirman, I’m delighted to report, is
going to be doing a restaurant column for us.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/eugene_mirman_c.html
YOU CAN LEAD A DOG TO WATER
Posted by Charles
It’s hardly news that the pet market makes a handy mirror of American’s
anxieties and misplaced priorities. But bottled water for dogs?
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/you_can_lead_a_.html
THE TRUCKER HAT ODYSSEY; U.S. CASTOFFS FILL MEXICAN THRIFT STORES
We love the Philadelphia Independent so it was very exciting to get a
new issue in the mail yesterday, despite the rumors of its demise. Mara
Hvistendahl has a great article on the front page, from which I’ll
quote...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/the_trucker_hat.html
VD IS FOR EVERYBODY
Posted by Skip Elsheimer
In collecting film materials about venereal disease for a book I’m
slowly working on, I found this public service announcement from the
early 1970s. Produced by the American Social Health Association and
the Ad Council, this “infectious” little piece tells us that anybody
can get venereal disease, but also implies that having venereal disease
can help you have an attractive, wealthy and active lifestyle. Perhaps
this PSA is where the Valtrex marketing folks got the idea for their
equally upbeat ad campaign.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/vd_is_for_every.html
VAGINAL SURGEONS: CEASE AND DESIST!
A plastic surgeon who specializes in “tightening” vaginas has
trademarked the term vaginal rejuvenation and is threatening to sue
doctors who use the phrase in their advertising.... which really makes
it tough to calculate the asshole points here: is he a bigger dick for
crying trademark infringement or for coining the sicko euphemism in the
first place? I’ll go with the latter on this one since I’d love to see
every last one of these doctors cease and desist myself. ( I hope this
doesn’t mean we start getting hits for people searching for “labia”
again...)
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/vaginal_surgeon.html
UPDATE ON HARRY POTTER SPOOF WIZARD PEOPLE
This just in: Warner Brothers has contacted every theater in the
country scheduled to show Wizard People, Dear Readers and threatened to
cut off all ties with the venues unless they cancel their screenings.
(See previous post) Nice, huh? Personally, if I were (Wizard People
creator) Brad Neely, I’d start holding screenings with DVD copies of
Harry Potter in clubs and bars. This movie is just too good for people
not to see.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/the_trucker_hat.html
I GOT YOUR AD SPACE, RIGHT HERE!
Posted by ja3
Thankfully, our editrix’s colon remains ad-free, but the trend of
auctioning off the human body as an advertising medium continues, as
today’s LA Times reports (registration required). The big news from the
article is that there is now an ad agency that brokers deals between
advertisers and willing freaks. Dickerson writes that so far “TatAd
Inkorporated” has placed three tattoos. But a few more rockin’ trade
shows and we’ll see those numbers jump.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/i_got_your_ad_s.html
MEDIATED BY THOMAS DE ZENGOTITA
Posted by Damian Chadwick
Great segment yesterday on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show -- an interview
with Thomas De Zengotita, author of Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your
World and the Way You Live In It. His basic premise is that our lives
are mediated (that is, seen through the lens of various media) to such
an extent that we experience reality in a completely artificial way.
This makes us resemble method actors, he asserts: always immersed in
our roles, always “in the moment”, always knowing our “motivation”.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/great_segment_y.html
MARKETING TO LUDDITES
This week’s Advertising Age has an article entitled Marketing to
American Luddites: Targeting Sweet Spots in an Ignored Demographic,
notable mostly for the author’s muddled grasp of English.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/marketing_to_lu.html
WAL-MART: WORKING HARD TO INVENT NEW SLEAZY THINGS TO DO
Posted by Tim Harrod
Like Wal-Mart’s previous crimes aren’t bad enough, it seems they’re
restocking returned electronics and selling them as new. They may not
stop doing this any time soon, but I bet after this news story, they’ll
at least erase the child pornography first.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/walmart_working.html
BILL O’REILLY IS AT IT AGAIN
You’d think Bill O’Reilly and his goons would have learned something
after the disaster of a lawsuit against Al Franken. But no, the company
that syndicates O’Reilly’s column, is trying to bully a weblog into
removing links to an O’Reilly column, under the guise of copyright
violation. That’s right: Creators Syndicate has sent a cease and desist
letter to Newshounds for merely linking to this column.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/bill_oreilly_is.html
RENAMING THE NETS
The Newark Star-Ledger reports today that the owner of the New Jersey
Nets has sold a “presenting sponsorship” to Jackson Hewitt; from now
on, the Nets will be known as “The New Jersey Nets presented by Jackson
Hewitt.”
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/nascarizing_the.html
LIKE REGULAR SCI-FI AND FANTASY DIPSHITS, BUT WITH SLAVES
Posted by Jason Torchinsky
If you’re like me, you’ve wasted a reasonable amount of time on the web
rolling your eyes at the insanely detailed websites dedicated to any
number of dorky D&D or fantasy books or some similar crap. And yet if
they were set into your head with ball bearings you’d never be able to
roll your eyes enough at the Goreans. The Goreans are a group of
seemingly run-of-the-mill fantasy dweebs inexplicably hooked on a
series of books from the 60s and 70s by author John Norman. The novels
are awful, but what makes them stand out is the very prominent theme of
sadomasochistic slavery of the women in the books...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/like_regular_sc.html
NAME THIS BOOK
Posted by Rachel Neumann
A contest sponsored by Campus Progress to name Ann Coulter’s next book
had one simple rule, the format had to be a single word followed by an
explanatory subtitle. After soul-searching and careful deliberation of
the over a hundred entries, they found a winner: “Roosevelt:
Wheelchair-Riding, America-Hating Terrorist” submitted by Ryan
Sniatecki, 26, of Baltimore. A close runner-up: “Democracy: The Liberal
Plot to Feed Your Children to the Poor.”
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/campusprogresso.html
LOCK, STOCK AND CRACKER BARREL
Brooklyn may be the new land of plenty for national retail chains, but
at least one corporate giant won’t be setting up shop anytime soon.
Yes, we’re talking about Cracker Barrel, that legendary Tennessee
restaurant chain that offers a deeply sanitized, ersatz version of
down-home, old-timey culinary goodness. Brooklyn residents won’t be
getting a chance to sample the Barrel’s soggy biscuits or purchase a
rocking chair from its dee-lightful “general store” anytime soon,
because, surprise, the company has a history of attracting lawsuits for
its alleged poor treatment of blacks, women and gays (ribs just don’t
taste the same without a little segregation, y’all.)
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/lock_stock_and_.html
COPYRIGHTS KEEP TV SHOWS OFF DVD
Wired News reports that popular TV shows will never be released on DVD
due to the high costs (and hassle) of clearing the rights for music in
them. For example, WKRP in Cincinatti is unlikely to ever be released
on DVD because the show contained a ton of music.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/copyrights_keep.html
CONSPIRACY THEORY ROCK
I don’t know how many of you ever saw Robert Smigel’s “Conspiracy
Theory Rock” on Saturday Night Live but Move Left Media has posted an
mpeg of it online. The short was originally broadcast on SNL in 1998,
but once the powers that be at NBC got wind of it, it was pulled from
episode so that it wouldn’t appear in reruns. Though not as funny as
some of Smigel’s other shorts, it was one of those rare moments where
an honest critique of big media made its way out on the airwaves, if
only for a short time.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/conspiracy_theo.htm
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