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[Carrie McLaren <stay.free AT verizon.net>]

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