From stay.free at verizon.net Mon Apr 4 13:53:15 2005 From: stay.free at verizon.net (Carrie McLaren) Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 13:53:15 -0400 Subject: Stay F---! | April 4 Message-ID: Hi folks, here are some recent highlights from our new Stay F---! blog (http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org) See the listed URLs for full text, including links and images. NYC GRASSROOTS MEDIA CONFERENCE ...is this weekend (April 9 & 10) at New School University. We?ll be selling magazines and other stuff in the tabling area so come out and say hi. http://www.nycgrassrootsmedia.org/ NEUROECONOMICS Business Week makes the bold proclamation that ?The study of neuroeconomics may topple the notion of rational decision-making.? Yeah, right. We?ve heard this all before, as ?behavioral economics?--a form of economics that acknowledges the obvious: that emotions affect one?s economic decisions. Though advertising and marketing have relied on emotions for over a century, mainline economics has always refused to acknowledge the role of emotions because doing so would undermine the basis of free-market economics (in other words, the idea that the market is the perfect arbiter of society?s interests). Behaviorial economics is clearly more realistic than the classical model, but political forces so overwhelmingly disfavor it that it?s a wonder Business Week even mentions it. (Though perhaps neuroeconomics--with its ?scientific? dressing--sounds more palatable than ?behavioral.?) http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/ STARBUCKS ALTERNATIVES COURTESY OF DELOCATOR Posted by Steve Lambert Delocator.net a new project by artists collective, Finishing School has been launched. It?s an online interactive database that allows visitors to enter and pull comparative information on independently owned caf?s and Starbucks... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/delocator_is_li.html GORGE ON THE RAINBOW Posted by Tim Harrod One of the many product tie-ins with the upcoming ?Star Wars? film is with the makers of Skittles brand Bite Size Candies. Along with various games and contests on the website, the Star Wars or SkittlesTM fan is urged to shop for SkittlesTM until they possess all 48 collectible packages featuring images from the film. According to my math, to achieve this feat one must consume over eighteen pounds of SkittlesTM over the four-month duration of the promotion. I know Star Wars fans have a slim shot at impressing the ladies anyway, but between the eighteen-pound suggestion and this ad, I think they?re pursuing a new ?Never Get Laid Again? advertising strategy. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/ PBS SELLS OUT (AGAIN) PBS is partnering with Comcast, Sesame Workshop, and HIT Entertainment on a new advertising-supported digital cable channel for preschoolers... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/pbs_sells_out_a.html TECHNOPRANKS, CUT-UPS, AND KIDS WITHOUT COATS Highlights from my recent trip to Iowa: Jesse Drew talked about prankster engineers who inbed images into computer microchips--images that can only be seen with a microscope... also, a website compiling audio cutups of President Bush and his cronies. And more... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/technopranks_au.html STUDY: PUPILS ?DO WORSE WITH COMPUTERS? From the Guardian: ?An international study of about 100,000 15-year-olds in 32 different developed and developing countries suggests that the drive to equip? schoolchildren with computers may be misplaced. See also: Lose the Laptops. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/study_pupils_do.html BAD MOTIVATOR Posted by Jason Torchinsky I?m always amazed by what gets people angry enough to justify the effort of making webpages, online petitions, and the like. There?s plenty of valid things to be angry about in this crazy-go-nuts world of ours, but the lack of a ?pacifistic? R5-D4 action figure doesn?t even make my list, and I LOVE toy robots. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/ THE $500 COURSEPACK Students at Harvard other universities are battling coursepacks that cost almost $500, due to copyright insanity. Pissed off, they?re photocopying articles from the coursepack on their own, which this editorial from the Harvard Crimson calls illegal. I could be wrong but I?m pretty sure it?s actually fine to photocopy articles for personal use, particularly for educational purposes. What?s NOT okay is for a commercial outlet such as Kinko?s to sell coursepacks without getting copyright clearances. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/the_500_coursep.html THE BARBIE HISTORY OF AMERICA From the Washington Post: ?In ?Peace, Love, and Rock ?n? Roll? -- one of the first books in a series aimed to offer, as one of its creators puts it, ?history through the Barbie filter?-- Barbie and her African American friend Christie are both illustrated with pink skin and long, straight hair.? The other new book in the series has Barbie teaching about the 1960s Civil Rights movement. Oh, the irony! ... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/barbie_diary_of.html SUCKING ON THE TIT OF MCDONALD?S Here?s an amazing McDonald?s ad showing a baby sucking on a Big Mac bun. They?ve gotta be kidding, right? This is a parody? No and no. I?m not sure when the ad was made but I?d guess around 2002. Pretty funny in light of McDonald?s recent attempts to distance itself from marketing junk food to kids, huh? http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/sucking_on_the_.html THE SEX ED TEACHER WAS RIGHT! Posted by Damian Chadwick As if the Troubles and House of Pain weren?t enough, the Irish also have to contend with fake condoms masquerading as the real thing. The libido-killing tale of substandard prophylactics that somehow found their way into ?realistic? Durex-brand packaging and onto Emerald Isle shelves can be found in the Guardian. An even more terrifying revelation in this story: there?s an international standard setting the number of holes condoms can have and still be legally sold... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/the_sex_ed_teac.html THE YES MEN?S BHOPAL PRANK If you?ve seen the Yes Men documentary, you know those guys are geniuses. But have you seen the stunt they pulled on the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster? The Yes Men are mostly known for masquerading as members of the WTO. But this time,Yes Man ?Andy? manages to pass himself off to BBC World Television viewers as a representative from Dow Chemical. Live on camera, Andy (as ?Jude Finisterra?) apologizes on behalf of Dow and promises to $12 billion to compensate the surviving victims! http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/the_yes_mens_bh.html WHY ?OUR MEDIA? MATTERS Many blogs have posted about Our Media, a new site that provides free storage and bandwidth for your videos, audio files, photos, text and software. If you haven?t checked it out yet you should, but I thought I?d post a note about why I think this site is more important that you may at first realize... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/why_our_media_m.html KEEPING TRACK OF ?CAUSE? RIBBONS Posted by Steve Lambert Carrie?s recent post about the craze for silicone cause bracelets got me all nostalgic about ribbons. Entering elementary school in 1980, I arrived just in time for Nancy Reagan?s ?Just Say No? anti-drug campaign. We had ?red-ribbon weeks? when everyone wore red ribbons and made red ribbon anti-drug posters and hung them in the hall. As the years went on I remember being confused when red ribbons started to mean AIDS awareness instead of drugs. With the Gulf War came ribbons in support of the US, and the troops, and soon after breast cancer, and child abuse. Ten years later I stumbled across a handy guide like this one. Ah ha! Finally a legend for this map! ... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/colors.html EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING SLOGANS The Institute for Infinitely Small Things has put together a neato site compiling what it calls corporate commands. Taken individually, these things seem pretty meaningless, but a long list like this paints a nice Orwellian picture: Drink. Win. Play. - Pepsi Invent - Hewlett Packard Join! - Procter & Gamble Have It Your Way - Burger King Revive - Glaceau (Flavored Water) Reward Yourself - American Express Find It. Book It. Easy. - Expedia (Microsoft) Change The Way You Look At Color - Nexus Empower Your Vision - Rayban Keep Your Identity To Yourself - Citibank Funny how exhortations such as these having pretty much replaced classic slogans. Compare these to Advertising Age?s Top 10 Slogans of the Century, for example... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/03/evolution_of_ad.html From stay.free at verizon.net Tue Apr 26 17:31:02 2005 From: stay.free at verizon.net (Carrie McLaren) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 17:31:02 -0400 Subject: Stay F---! | April 26 Message-ID: <6893fbb549cfcf5c0c5a98b664fc4f6e@verizon.net> "Since we've got a new issue coming out next month, I'm trying to get more of the back issues on the website. Here are a few items from issue #22, which came out last spring: THE DARK SIDE OF DOG BREEDING. Why can't purebred retrievers retrieve? How do sickly powder puffs win dog shows? What makes a dalmatian a dalmatian? Historian James Serpell discusses humanity's kinship with canines. http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/22/ STAY FREE! POP QUIZ http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/22/pop-quiz.html MY NEW FAVORITE THING. Books, movies, and other items we fancy: Martin and Rowan's Laugh-In (TV) Channel 101.com (video comedy) Manic (movie) USSR-Airspace.com (website) Wizard People, Dear Reader (movie) My hot glue gun (tool) http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/22/ BIG IDEAS Stay Free! readers share their get-rich-quick schemes and entrepreneurial experiences. http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/22/entrepreneurial.html - - - - - - - - FROM THE BLOG http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org WIZARD PEOPLE SCREENING IN NYC - TUES. MAY 31 Stay Free! is pleased to announce that we'll be screening Brad Neely's Wizard People, Dear Reader, here in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, on Tuesday, May 31st, at Southpaw (5th Ave. between Sterling and St. John's). This will be part of the release party for our upcoming issue, Stay Free! #24. Details to follow... If you're not yet familiar with Wizard People and Warner Brothers' attempts to shut it down, check out this NPR feature. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/wizard_people_s.html STAY FREE! T-SHIRTS FOR SALE In a renewed quest to financially justify the time I spend on Stay Free!, I've started a t-shirt "shop" via CafePress.com. Lots of parody corporate logos, etc. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/stay_free_tshir.html http://www.cafepress.com/stayfree WALTON 342, SHAQ 350 Posted by Steve Lambert Even you non-sports fans have heard of Shaquille O'Neal, right? Well, did you know as a professional player he only makes about half of his free throws? You know freethrows, those shots when no one is guarding you. Now Artist Lee Walton has given Shaq a run for his money with Lee Walton's 2004-2005 Free Throw Championship... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/walton_342_shaq.html POCKET JUDGE My friend Becky (and her friend Jeff) put together a nifty eBay auction for "Pocket Judge(TM): Stick one in your hip pocket and it'll be hip to YOUR special interests." http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/pocket_judge.html http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6527746357 DIABETES ASSOCIATION FLIP-FLOPS ON DIABETES The American Diabetes Association recently announced its new partnership with Cadbury Schweppes, which... ok... may not be the most ironic sponsorship deal I've heard of -- that would be Coca-Cola's sponsorship of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) -- but it's close. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org I FAKE IT SO REAL I AM BEYOND FAKE Posted by Charles Star Since I am now the resident breast-news poster, I bring you the Evolution by Margarita bra. According to the Brastraps.com press release: "[Evolution] features a sculpted, graduated cup specially designed to mimic the appearance of cosmetic breast implants by lifting and slightly separating each breast to appear fuller and firmer both in and out of clothing." http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/i_fake_it_so_re.html HOW TO FAKE A TOWNHALL MEETING Here's an awesome clip from the Daily Show about the Bush administration's penchant for staging television-friendly (that is, fake) townhall meetings. The interview with Republican wordsmith Frank Luntz is priceless. This guy is such a brilliant media strategist and yet he seems absolutely unaware that the Daily Show coorespondant (Samantha Bee) us gunning for him. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/update_on_video.html WHERE HAVE ALL THE CORKIES GONE? Posted by Jason Torchinsky So earlier today my friend Galen sent me this email: "Has Rosie O'Donnell ever made you laugh? Go to http://www.cbs.com and watch the promo for Riding the Bus with my Sister. She may have single handedly set back mental retardation 100 years. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org HOW TO RIG A DRUG TRIAL There's been lots of research comparing manufacturer-sponsored medical research to the old-fashioned, unsponsored kind, and the results are pretty much what'd you expect: "Studies sponsored by pharmaceutical firms were four times more likely to show results favoring the drug being tested than studies funded by other sources." How do academics do it and still maintain scientific credibility? The Carlat Report has come up with a handy summary of tips drug companies use to steer clinical trial results in their favor... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/how_to_rig_a_cl.html NYC'S RECIPE FOR DEPRESSION New York is beginning a broad, citywide program to encourage primary care doctors to screen people for depression. Participating doctors (and the goal is to have ALL primary care doctors in the city hospital system participating) will ask any patient they consider at risk nine questions, developed in tandem with the RAND corporation: In the past two weeks, how often have you been bothered by trouble concentrating on things? Feeling tired or having little energy? Poor appetite or overeating? Not making the list: How many hours a week are you working? Do you get along with your boss? Have enough money to pay rent? Recent break-ups? Family problems? You get the idea... http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/depressed_now_y.html DEPRESSED? NOW YOU WILL BE... While working on a comment to my previous post (about New York City's new plan to encourage primary care doctors to screen patients for depression), I discovered that the Bush administration has been pushing to expand mental health screening nationally. Why is this a problem? Well, for one thing, according to the MindFreedom Support Coalition, a human's rights group, pharmaceutical companies, in conjunction with the (scary) American Enterprise Institute, are writing the rules. And those rules call for more coercive treatments such as forced (court-ordered) drugging. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/depressed_now_y_1.html HOPE IN THE DARK Posted by Steve Lambert Author Rebecca Solnit starts Hope in the Dark: Untold Stories, Wild Possibilities off by discussing artist Mark Lombardi. Lombardi was half journalist, half artist. Through intense research he was able to visually chart out the networks that link centers of power together in large scale drawings. He did it so well, the FBI actually came to the Whitney Museum in 2001, viewing his work to aid their investigation of Osama Bin Laden. Lombardi was able to research and synthesize an incredible amount of information in is work, and for complex reasons, he committed suicide in 2000. However, living with the information and detailed understanding of the world he had in his head it's easy to see how depression overcame him. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/hope_in_the_dar.html REPORT: KIDS HOSPITALIZED FOR ILLITERACY From Australian Associated Press: A report by the Australian government has found that children's clinics in hospitals across Australia are being swamped with patients whose only problem is their inability to read. The head of the government's inquiry into reading, Ken Rowe, said hospital psychology clinics were straining to cope with children seeking medical attention for problems caused by their failure to learn at school. "Hospitals are complaining that their clinics are being filled with kids who are being referred for things like (ADHD)," he told the Sydney Morning Herald. "But once the pediatricians sort out the children's literacy problems the behaviour problems disappear." http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/report_kids_hos.html GEORGE JETSON GETS A PRESENT FROM DOVE Posted by Charles Star Everyone I talk to adores the new Dove Styling ads in which famous cartoon women all get product-aided makeovers. But Dove Styling apparently confers an unspoken benefit: bigger breasts. Because the hair is so different, your instinctive response is to credit the new haircut for the revamped looks. But these cartoon women have more than a healthy glow in their hair. Each of their bodies has been "improved" in subtle but unmistakable ways. Let's go to the videotape. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/george_jetson_d.html ADVERTISERS: TRIX AREN'T FOR KIDS The makers of Hostess Twinkies, Nestle Crunch, and Little Debbie cakes have come up with an unexpected response to critics who blame them for marketing junk food to kids: denial. "Hostess is not a kids' brand," says Jacques Roizen, chief marketing officer for Interstate Bakeries Corp., maker of Hostess snack cakes and fruit pies. "A majority of our snacks are consumed by adults." The target customer for Baby Ruth candy bars? "Definitely adult men," says Barb Skoog, spokeswoman for Nestl? SA. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/twinkees_the.html NYU ROBOTS LAUNCH AD CAMPAIGN FOR THE CIA Whoops, I mean students, not robots: New York University Professor Jacob Jacoby and his students are running an ad campaign to promote the Central Intelligence Agency as an "exceptional employer...." http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/cia_nyu_robots_.html THE NEW SUV PSAS ESUSEEKAY Inside1suvadWhile I am not an anti-SUV zealot like some around here, I'm not particularly thrilled to see them in a place like Brooklyn. But even I realize that a new SUV-safety PSA making the rounds is symbolic of everything that is wrong with SUV culture. In the first commercial of this campaign, which first aired during the Super Bowl, a combination of a tauntaun, a beast from Where the Wild Things Are and a Range Rover -- an esuvee, of course -- comes hurtling out of a rodeo gate pitching to and fro, its driver hanging on for dear life. http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/04/while_i_am_not_.html