Stay F---! Update | January 2008
Kristen Sollee
stayfreemagazine at gmail.com
Tue Jan 15 11:11:26 EST 2008
STAY F--- PRESENTS: ADULT EDUCATION
We are pleased to announce the launch of Adult Education, a monthly series
we're doing at Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY. Each program will feature 4 or 5
speakers presenting brief lectures using some sort of visual aid (kind of
like "show and tell" for grown-ups). Stay Free!'s own Charles Star will
host. Hope you can make it!
Tues., January 22, 2008
Tonight's theme: Micro-genre
Union Hall (Union & 5th St. in Park Slope, Brooklyn), 8 pm
- Liz Clayton: The Architecture of Converted Fast-Food Restaurants
- Paul Lukas: On Elevator World, Hay & Forage Grower, and other trade
magazines
- Heidi Cody: First National Icons: Native Americans in Grocery Brands
- Jim Hanas: On meta-tourism: photos of tourists taking photos
- Russell Scholl: On TV Commercials for Personal Hygiene Products
For more info:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6302279332
http://www.myspace.com/adult_education
ADVERTISING'S SCARY NEW WEAPON: SONIC BEAMS
Just when you thought you've see it all, along comes a terrifying new form
of advertising. An A&E billboard in Manhattan is using ultrasound waves to
beam audio to hyper-targeted areas along the sidewalk below. If you've seen
"The Men Who Stared at Goats"[LINK], then you'll recognize this as military
technology that uses "your skull as a speaker." In other words, it beams
hypersonic sounds to scare victims, make them nauseous, or cause them to
faint. Yes, exactly the sort of thing we want on our streets!
[ Continued at . . . ]
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/12/sound-ads-audio.html
ADVERTISING BETWEEN ADS
According to the LA Times, the writers strike may really be taking its toll:
"Firebrand, a media company based in New York, launched the
all-commercials-all-the-time show . . . late Monday with hopes of getting
young people to view advertising: as entertainment, not an annoyance."
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/12/advertising-as.html
BRAIN TESTING VOTERS
The Wall Street Journal had a story on Friday about presidential candidates
using "neuroscience" to test voters reactions to certain issues and
messages. Market researchers have been doing this for several decades, of
course; it's only recently that campaigns have had enough money to spend
spare tens of thousands on brain scans. I probably would be more upset about
this practice if I thought it worked. As it stands now, the whole thing
smacks of snake oil. But its worth pausing to consider what's going on here,
aside from the colossal waste of money: these presidential candidates are
essentially trying to read voters minds...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/12/brain-scan-vote.html
MY NEW FAVORITE THING: CATALOG-BUSTING
We live in a two-family building and get piles of catalogs addressed to
people I've never heard of. But this website, Catalog Choice, makes getting
off catalog mailing lists easy, even when the catalogs aren't addressed to
you personally...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/11/catalog-mail.html
BUY BUY BABY (THE BOOK, NOT THE STORE)
Just finished Susan Gregory Thomas's book Buy Buy Baby and thought Id take
the opportunity to recommend it highly. Though I like to think of myself as
well-read when it comes to kids and consumer culture, I found the book
illuminating and engaging, with a journalists sense of balance...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/11/baby-tv-marketi.html
THE MILITARY'S SECRET WEAPON: MAGIC
Psyops military Writer Jon Ronson, previously known to me for his segments
on This American Life, has made a documentary series based on his book The
Men Who Stare at Goats for the BBC called Crazy Rulers of the World. This
story of the devotion of U.S. military resources to psychics, mentalists and
other bullshittery is hilarious when it isn't downright terrifying.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/11/military-intell.html��
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