Stay Free! | March 21
Carrie McLaren
carrie at stayfreemagazine.org
Fri Mar 21 11:01:00 EST 2003
Man, this war stuff is so depressing. All I seem to read about in the
business press is how much advertising will be lost. Many
corporations plan to keep commercials off the air for the first few
days of bombing... after which they will trickle back in as
circumstance warrant. What I can never figure out is -- If it's
tasteless to run commercials the first week of bombing why isn't it
tasteless them the second or third week?
Everyone expects the networks to return to business as usual soon. No
one wants to be tacky but, hey, the show must go on. So ABC will
broadcast the Academy Awards as planned but the celebrities will be
sure to "dress down." Even that small concession has some fans riled.
An editorial on the front of Oscarwatch.com reads:
<< It is shameful to deny us (the fans) that only opportunity into
the dream factory just because some celebrities feel unease about the
situation in Iraq - there is always strife going on somewhere in the
Globe and this one is not more important than the others. It is
cowardly to deny people enjoyment of that brief moment of fantasy --
which is what the Oscars are about. >>>
I hear echoes of this sentiment from students complaining about
cancelled school trips, from sports fans worried about the fate of
ball games. If it were up to me, I'd cancel it all: the commercials,
the Oscars, the ball games, school outings, the spring break trips --
even if there's no apparent reason to. Traffic in Manhattan is said
to be a nightmare now. Good! I say barricade the streets, forbid
right turns on red, bring traffic to a standstill!
These petty annoyances are all some of us have to keep from
forgetting what our government is doing in Iraq. We need to feel
uncomfortable. Every hour, every day.
::::::::
WHAT IS VICTORIA'S SECRET?
I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on a "contagious media"
course taught by Jonah Peretti, co-creator of the very fine
BlackPeopleLoveUs.com. As part of a class project, some of his
students presented this site, which some of you may appreciate:
http://www.whatisvictoriassecret.com
If you're looking for photos of scantily clad women loosing control
of their bowels, you're in luck! Lots of vomiting, too. This parody
probably won't be up for long, so if the link stops working, chalk up
another victory for the trademark police. (the bastards!)
::::::::::::
SCHMIO AWARDS IN NEW YORK ON APRIL 10
On Thursday, April 10, New York University shall present the 6th
Annual Schmio Awards, wherein critics, comics, and carping eggheads
(including yours truly) will present awards for the worst in
commercialized culture: in-your-face war-marketing, promotional
carpet-bombing, take-no-prisoners corporate propaganda,
and plain old-fashioned jingoism.
Presenters & performers include:
(MC) Mark Crispin Miller
Carrie McLaren of Stay Free! magazine
Gulf War Vet Charles Sheehan-Miles
Chelsea and Jonah Peretti of BlackPeopleLoveUs.com
La Lutta New Media Collective
Radical Cheerleaders from the Children's Media Project
Robin Andersen
and more!
Sakland Auditorium, 7:30 pm
421 First Avenue (at East 24th Street)
Tickets are $5 for students, $10 general admission. Arrive early
because it always sells out. For more info: Schmios2003 at yahoo.com
::::::::::::
In light of the protests going on tomorrow, here are some of my picks:
TOP FIVE SIGNS (SEEN AT THE 2/15 NYC PROTEST)
* How did our oil get under their water?
* Have another pretzel, asshole
* A village in Texas has lost its idiot
* Re-elect Carter [ one of my favorites 'cos it was mine!]
* Another Feitelberg against the War [ my friend Amy Feitelberg ]
happy weekend,
carrie
More information about the Stayfree
mailing list