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The Billboards of New York

Should you ever need a visual metaphor for commercialism's domination of culture, here's a good one. Wouter Deruytter has a show up at Wessel + O'Connor Gallery in DUMBO that collects his photos of gigantic billboards, taken over the past four years in Manhattan. The exhibit is a welcome reminder that an environment we so often take for granted makes for a pretty surreal landscape.

See also New York's Great Outdoors

(Via Gothamist)

Who will snark the snarkers?

It took a chance meeting with a regular human, but Gawker recently discovered that some blogs allow people to comment. Gawker thought about this and said Really? All of them?, and instituted an invitation-only comment system. And then invited only their friends.

If you had something to say, but are upset that as a mere prole you have no forum, worry no more. Through the wonder of RSS, friend-of-Stay Free Jim Hanas has created Gawker Talker, a headline aggregator that is comment-enabled for the common man.

This better get me a fucking invitation.

Worst military ad campaign ever?

You'd think the billions of dollars that the U.S. military spends on recruitment would allow it to anticipate how an ad campaign could be interpreted by the public. So I can't for the life of me figure out how this upcoming campaign made it out of focus group. The first thing that came to mind when I saw this image from one commercial was "It's your turn . . . to die."  I mean, they might as well put target lines around this woman's face!

Considering that the number one reason young people don't sign up for the military is to avoid getting killed, I give this campaign a week before it's shot down.

P.S. - This New York Times article is an interesting history of US military recruitment campaigns.

How did U-Haul that?

Spotted on Atlantic Avenue: A great discount for the people who escaped from the Gulf Coast to Brooklyn and are in dire straits because they have no place for all the extra furniture they took with them.

Taking the permission society seriously

Charles' post about sports broadcasts just reminded me of UnhappyBirthday.com, which encourages people to warn ASCAP and Time Warner every time they hear someone singing "Happy Birthday" in public. By overwhelming clearance departments with frivolous letters, the site's creators hope to make a statement about copyright-gone-amok.

That said, perhaps a more direct way to the same end is to borrow a page from that sports guy and encourage the public to write letters any time they anticipate singing "Happy Birthday" in the near future. So, seeing as my dad has birthday coming up, I figured I'd get the ball rolling:

ASCAP - New York
One Lincoln Plaza
New York, NY 10023
licensing@ascap.com

Dear ASCAP,

The copyright status of "Happy Birthday To You" and the law related to public performances of copyrighted works have recently been brought to my attention. I would therefore like to request permission in advance to sing "Happy Birthday" to my father at Frenchy's Original Cafe in Clearwater, Florida, on October 8, at approximately 1 pm.

My father will be turning 75 on this day and will probably be ordering the Seafood Gumbo and Fried Grouper. The rest of the party will include Charles Star, my brothers Peter and Paul, their spouses Karla and Cindee, and my mother Lynn. Five of us will be singing while my brothers merely mouth the words and smile. We expect there to be approximately 50 disinterested witnesses.

I realize this is short notice but we only recently settled the details. If there is a charge for the privilege of singing in this instance, please let me know. And, if there is, please specify whether or not the cost can be reduced by moving to another location.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,
Carrie McLaren

Bear in mind that when Lawrence Lessig et al. tried to license "Happy Birthday" to celebrate the Free Culture movement, they waited months to get permission. So, um, I'm not holding our breath for a reply...

US War Photos

From journalist Richard Ehrlich:

BANGKOK, Thailand -- US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have posted on the Internet "several hundred" photographs of mutilated corpses from "the real war," in exchange for free online pornography...

"This is an uncensored view of the conflict going on in Iraq and Afghanistan," 27-year-old Christopher Wilson, owner of nowthatsfuckedup.com, said in an e-mail interview. "These pictures are taken directly from the cameras of the soldiers and uploaded to my site.

The website in question - nowthatsfuckedup.com - remains online, where nestled between "Amateur Wives and Girlfriends" and the "Foot Fetish Forum" are some of the most disturbing images of the war imaginable. All of them appear to have indeed come from soldiers' digital cameras, and come complete with bloodthirsty comments from the troops. It only took me a few clicks before I had to stop (too queezy), but you should read Ehrlich's full story (below the fold).

US WAR PHOTOS
by Richard S. Ehrlich            

   BANGKOK, Thailand -- US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have posted on Internet "several hundred" photographs of mutilated corpses from "the real war," in exchange for free online pornography, according to the owner of a Web site investigated by the Pentagon.
   "This is an uncensored view of the conflict going on in Iraq and Afghanistan," 27-year-old Christopher Wilson, owner of nowthatsfuckedup.com, said in an e-mail interview.
   "These pictures are taken directly from the cameras of the soldiers and uploaded to my site.
   "Gory photos are not the only ones accepted for free access, and the gory section is clearly labeled so those wishing not to see it aren't tricked into doing so," said Wilson, based in Lakeland, Florida.
   "If people don't want to see the REAL war, then they simply don't have to look. I receive an average of three death threats per day, and it makes no sense to me. No one is forcing them to see this stuff".
   Who photographed or posted the hundreds of pictures, who killed the unnamed people portrayed, and the photos' authenticity have not been publicly confirmed.
   "Obviously, it is an unacceptable practice," said Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Associated Press reported on Tuesday (Sept. 28).
   An Army spokesman, Col. Joseph Curtin, said the military's Criminal Investigation Division recently began investigating the matter, according to A.P.
   "I am probably one of the strongest supporters of free speech you will ever meet," Wilson said in the interview on Tuesday (Sept. 28) about his Web site, which is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
   Anyone can view the photos of torn body parts and disfigured cadavers for free in the site's "gory" section, labeled "open access."
   Set up in June 2004, the Web site originally offered only porn. Viewers gained 90 days' free access every time they sent in amateur nude photos or paid 10 U.S. dollars.
   But voyeuristic U.S. military personnel based in Iraq and Afghanistan complained it was difficult to upload amateur nudity from their war zones or send payments from Baghdad and Kabul. 
   So about 10 months ago, Wilson invited them to send in pictures from their battlefields in exchange for 90 days' free access to the entire site.
   Horrific, high-resolution, digital photos displaying close-ups of bullet-riddled, dismembered, burnt or blood-soaked corpses began appearing on his Web site.
   Comments from contributors and viewers mocking and insulting the dead, cheering U.S. victories over Muslim enemies, cursing supporters and opponents of the wars, and other freewheeling chatter appear alongside the photos.
   Pictures of shattered, mangled cadavers, often described as killed while fighting U.S. troops or from explosions, include body parts strewn on the desert, or dangling from twisted wreckage of vehicles.
   Some photos include men wearing tan camouflage uniforms who are gawking, pointing, chuckling and posing amid the grisly human carnage.
   Many of the uniformed men, however, do not display U.S. flag shoulder patches, unit markings, or name tags, though their faces are clearly identifiable.
   "If you are asking why people [who] are standing around in the images have no patches or name tags, all I will say is the soldiers are being selective on what they upload," Wilson said.
   "Apparently they can get in trouble for sending in these pics and they don't want to burn their fellow soldier or themselves by showing name patches etc.," Wilson said.
   "We have just over 300,000 user-submitted images and videos taken of users' wives and girlfriends. As far as gory photos, I would say several hundred."
   Weeding out suspected staged pictures is not impossible, but not fool-proof.
   "I know pretty much the stuff to look for in
these photos. That being said, I am human, and one may get by me that is a fake or a setup shot. If
it was brought to my attention, the person that
posted it would no longer be allowed to be a member of the site. They would be banned," Wilson said.
   "The only [gory] photos I want on the site are
from soldiers currently stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan."
   One contributor of bloodied cadaver photos identified himself as zalzan kavol, and titled his offerings, "Don't FUCK with the U.S. Army".
   He captioned his pictures:  "Some more insurgents sent to explain themselves to Allah. Killing is never a casual occurrence, but I would kill a thousand to save one American life.
   "I am not responsible for the enemy casualties shown here," zalzan kavol added.
   SegDawg, a viewer, replied:  "Don't see enough burns or mangling for rocket damage. Looks more like 50cal fire, maybe even 20mm gunship cannons. Very nasty."
   GringosDeMierda, however, warned: "So, have you learned what the Iraq people feel? I like American weapons too, but those aren't toys. You are like bastards laughing and thinking war is a Xbox game.
   "Osama is alive and you poor assholes won't find him. Just wait for another 9/11," GringosDeMierda concluded.
   Wilson, meanwhile, insisted he is not anti-war.
   "I fully supported attacking whoever was responsible for the attacks on us on 9-11-2001. Beyond that, I will just support our troops no matter where they are sent whether I agree with the reasons why they are there.
   "I'm not very political, I voted for Bush in the last election."
   Controversy over his right to free expression versus demands for censorship by critics of his Web site worry the American online publisher.
   "I carry a concealed weapon on me at all times.
I always have, even before any of these death threats.
   "I don't consider any of the threats viable, but I do carry, just in case."

Just sign the summons, kid

The RIAA was thwarted in its attempt to sue a technologically illiterate Michigan mother for allowing her daughter to "allegedly" download songs. So they asked the court to appoint a guardian ad litem for the child so they could sue the kid directly. The judge said no, but in future cases that will probably be the RIAA's first step, and the judge will say yes.

I just pictured Lars Ulrich walking out of the courtroom with a Hilary Duff bank as the young girl cries her eyes out.

(Via Broomeman)

Can't Get Enough Ribbon Parodies

In the spirit of Empty Sentiment and Support Our Pants, Twisty Faster of I Blame the Patriarchy has my favorite parody ribbon yet.

Interested in designing your own ribbon? Do what Twisty did and go to Support Our Ribbons.

(Thanks, Sara)

Quick links

The Return of Reefer Madness (subs. or ad viewing req.)
From Salon: "The U.S. drug czar's office is running ads implying that smoking marijuana can lead to insanity. But pushing dubious science is no way to persuade teenagers not to do drugs."

Do new technologies make us more intelligent?
Short answer: no. Here's a good, thoughtful summary of Neil Postman's argument that new technologies don't fundamentally alter our minds but, rather, shape how society defines intelligence. (Via Mindhacks)

Victoria's Secret
Mimi Swartz, The New Yorker
Interesting profile of one of Prada's top saleswoman, from 1998

Piracy twofer:

Just enough piracy
Argues that companies would make more money if they just accepted some privacy (like shoplifting) as a cost of doing business.

Piracy is Progressive Taxation, and Other Thoughts on the Evolution of Online Distribution

Unnecessary Permission Granted

Any rebroadcast, reproduction, retransmission or other use of the pictures and accounts of this game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is strictly prohibited.

Every sports fan has heard the phrase (or some variation) so many times that they probably no longer hear it. But, really, any reproduction? If Commissioner Selig gives the go-ahead, it's a trap? The local news can't show a clip when reporting on the game? What if they are reporting on the quality of the broadcast?

But has anyone ever taken them seriously? Merrit Bettineski of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer decided to take them seriously and got a hilariously deadpan answer.

(Via Can't Stop the Bleeding)

Oh baby, Yahoo!

If you use Yahoo! mail, you've seen the (kinda) new login page. Francis has written about the odd enticements in the text of their self-advertising, but I'm more interested in the pictures.

Is it just me or do these photos owe a lot to free-for-download amateur pornography?

Attention AV Geeks!

Hey, fans of old school films. For those of you in New York, here are some upcoming shows featuring films from my AV Geeks school film archive and some other collections (Oddball Films, Orgone Cinema):

BLACKBOARD BUNGLE  AV Geeks present an evening of old school films about the hazards of going to school in the 1960s and 70s. Films include - Our Obligation, Lunchroom Manners, How Quiet Helps at School, And Then It Happened and more! Door prizes!
7:30pm Wednesday, September 28th, Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY, 631-423-FILM (3456)
7:30pm Thursday, September 29th, Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Avenue, New York City, (212) 505-5181

KIDS AND KRITTERS  "Anyone who hates children and animals can't be all bad." The AV Geeks present a night of school films where the producers seem to share that same sentiment with films featuring children interacting with animals. Films include: Skipper Learns a Lesson, Safety with Animals, Kitty Cleans Up, Ro-Revus and more! Door prizes!
7:30pm Friday, September 30th, Anthology Film Archives 32 2nd Avenue, New York City, (212) 505-5181

THE SUBJECT IS SEX  Films curated by Stephen Parr of Oddball Film+Video. An extraordinary personal romp through the seamy side of Sex in Cinema. Drawn from his extensive 16mm film archives this polymorphous program promises a pulsating panorama of perverse pleasures that includes: home movies, hillbilly porn, cartoon smut, commercials, trailers, educationals, hygiene films, burlesque bits, vérité footage from porn sets, and oozing oodles more! This new work-in-progress version of "THE SUBJECT IS SEX" (Volume One was released by Other Cinema DVD last year) promises to give new meaning to the phrase "Sex is where you find it". Don't miss the Cheap-Smut-Give-A-Way! Featuring: EL SATARIO, CROSSING THE EQUATOR, CHEESENAPPERS, SALVO WITH WALLY COX, THE RED SHOES, BEEFCAKES AND CHEESECAKES, ERIK IS HERE!, CHEMICAL NEW YORK, JENO'S PIZZA
7:00pm Saturday, October 1st, Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Avenue, New York City, (212) 505-5181

A SUNDAY LARK  Greg Pierce (Orgone Cinema) presents films for kids ~ Films With Kids from The Orgone Archive (Pittsburgh 13) Hey, Kids! Bring your parents to a cinematic core sampling of films from The Orgone Archive and Mining Co. made for you (by adults) or starring you (also made by adults). Sit those grown-ups down and make them look at what they've done to your song and the package they've tried to seal it up in.
4:00pm Sunday, October 2nd, Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Avenue, New York City, (212) 505-5181

ODDITIES BEYOND BELIEF Culled from the underbelly of San Francisco curator/archivist Stephen Parr's vast archives of 16mm film. Parr's program is a surreal and sublime look at a world gone wrong. Films both chilling and hilarious are juxtaposed in an incongruous program of creepy religious films (SOMETHING TO TAKE TO HEART), law enforcement advertisements (USE OF MACE), apocalyptic medical and pharmaceutical films (RABIES IN A HUMAN PATIENT and LE MONDE DU SCHIZOPHRENE aka THE WORLD OF THE SCHIZOPHRENIC), PSAs (the New York Department of Health's STARVE A RAT) and much more. These rare oddities and cinematic curiosities transcend the comic and camp and reveal the unexplored and uniquely peculiar netherworlds of educational and industrial cinema.
7:00pm Sunday, October 2nd, Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Avenue, New York City, (212) 505-5181

Is "open source" the new "low carb"?

Wired News has a story about Adcandy.com, an online company that solicits volunteers to create ad and slogan ideas, then packages them to sell to corporations. For the most part Adcandy works by way of unofficial contests. A Coca-Cola contest, for example, challenges amateurs to create Coke ads but doesn't have Coke's endorsement; rather, Adcandy launched the effort in the hopes of getting Coke to buy the entry data.

On one hand, what Adcandy is trying to do is pull off a kind of legal shell game. People often come up with ideas for ad campaigns and submit them to companies, but companies won't accept such pitches out of fear of being sued. (If Gap unwittingly launches a campaign that resembles an idea someone had earlier pitched, that someone may assume the Gap stole his idea.) By serving as a middleman between consumers and companies -- and by requiring participants to hand over any intellectual property rights -- Adcandy buffers its corporate clients from legal action.

According to Wired, "the freedom [of nonprofessionals] to participate has some people comparing Adcandy's new ad medium to open-source programming." But the "some people" referred to here are Adcandy employees! Calling this process "open source" is misleading, to say the least. On one of its FAQs, Adcandy claims:

In a sense, what we are trying to create is a "Public Domain" for advertising ideas.... Although we own the ideas, we do not care who uses them.

Huh? A privately owned public domain?!

As the company's own intellectual property page points out: you can't claim a copyright on an idea. What's more, Adcandy obviously does care who uses the ideas because, at the same time it's pitching itself as open-source, it's offering companies the opportunity to buy - and to own - contest data. It also asks creators not to portray brands in a negative light.

Will the plan work? Who knows. Open-source advertising is, in some circles, the buzzword of the moment. But if this particular scheme holds one draw for clients, I suspect it's more for market research purposes (as an online focus group) than for idea-generating.

Perhaps it bears pointing out that there is no indication that the masses gives two twigs about Adcandy. And the consumers who do? The ones who post sample ads and ideas? Well, let's just say they shouldn't quit their day jobs.

Proposed: New Unit of Measurement

Ever been to Myrtle Beach, SC? It's a craphole. What makes it a craphole is not so much the actual beach landscape itself, but rather the sheer volume of crap-vending, advertising, and generally far too much commerce in too small a volume. Not good commerce, either; lots of '12 for $5' t-shirt places, Hooters, and similar offal.

So I was thinking, how would I inform someone who, say, was trying to decide whether to vacation at Myrtle Beach or the Outer Banks of NC? I suppose I could describe the overdevelopment of Myrtle Beach compared to the relatively unspoiled Outer Banks, but that would require lots of descriptions, modifiers, opinions, etc., all of which involve lots of me talking, which I can't imagine is a pleasant experience for my perplexed inquisitor.

There's got to be a better way. And now there is: the Walt Scale of Crass Commercialization.

I've developed this new metric, based on two diametrically opposed Walts: Walt Whitman and Walt Disney. The Whitman side ends at 0, the realm of a purely natural, unspoiled environment, Leaves of Grass and all that. At the other end of the scale, topping out at 100 Walts, is Disney, culminating in, say, Disneyland: an area designed solely for the maximum commercial potential.

Now, this is not a scale of worth: I'm passing no judgements here-- in fact, I think the worst places probably fall in the 35-45 and the 65-75 Walts range of the scale: places that purport to be non-commercial (or commercial) and yet are tainted with either a crippling lack of commerce or a painful overindulgence. And, I think there's a sweet spot in the middle. See, a place rated at 90+ Walts is just fine, if what you're looking for is commercial by nature; same goes for places 10 Walts and below if you're looking for a place that is natural by nature; the bastardizations in that middle range probably satisfy nobody. For example, I'd peg Myrtle Beach at about 72 Walts.

So problem solved. Now you can convey this valuable information about any location in a quantifiable, unambiguous manner. Enjoy.

Trolling for patents

Microsoft calling for limit on patent rights? Who would have thought...? And it's not just Microsoft: several multinational technology companies have been lobbying to limit "patent trolls" - small companies that buy up patents and then use them to extort money from the big guys. These outfits don't actually produce anything; they collect patents strictly to file lawsuits. When a company starts making something similar to a patent they own, they file suit and demand payment.

The trolls described in this case are rather unsympathetic characters. Before getting into the patent business, one guy helped steal cars. The verdict sucked -- the trolls won (at least temporarily) -- but I confess to finding a certain poetry in the fact that the plaintiff is a thief.

Personal matters

I haven't had much time to read the web or blog lately. For one thing, my part-time job ended two weeks ago and so I've been scavenging for freelance design work. But, more importantly, Charles (Stay Free! "Vice President") and I have decided to get married. Since I'm a classic Type A personality,  I immediately started to look into reception sites and expenses, even though the wedding is a good year away.... and, to make a long story short, the experience has been such a rude awakening that Charles and I have decided to document it on a new wedding blog. Maybe you'll enjoy it.

Hopefully we'll find a reception site soon and will run out of things to complain about (though somehow I doubt it).

Take Two and Pass, Japan!

I hate to break it to you, Ford Motor Company, but the Japanese bogarting all the good hybrid parts is not at the root of your failure to provide fuel-efficient vehicles. I'm going to guess that failure is instead based in a long tradition of not offering fuel-efficient vehicles:

Maximum number of miles that Ford's most fuel-efficient 2003 car can drive on a gallon of gas: 36
Maximum number its 1912 Model T could: 35

(Source)

News readers for technophobes

After reading the stats that over 90% of web users don't know about RSS, I figure a little education is in order. If you are one of the people who read this blog regularly but don't use an RSS "news reader," trust me when I say that it would make reading online a whole lot easier. This is especially true for sites like ours that update sporadically. A news reader will tell you when your favorite sites update and allow you to keep track of articles that you intend to read when time permits.

First, you'll need a news reader...

I use Bloglines, so that's what I'll recommend. You'll need to register with Bloglines first. Once you do, click "my feeds" and then "Add." Then, enter the URL of a blog or news site you'd like to keep tabs on.

For example:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org

http://www.visualresistance.org/wordpress/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/iatrogenic/

Click SUBSCRIBE, check one of the "Subscribe to this feed" options, then hit SUBSCRIBE again. Our blog lists four different feeds but they are in fact all the same, so don't worry too much about which feed to subscribe to. Larger new sites, however, often give you options to subscribe to, say, sports or international news... so you should select those more carefully.

If, upon entering a URL, you get a message saying that no feed was found, visit the webite in question and look for an XML or RSS link (some websites don't have RSS). But, usually, if such a link appears on a web page you can just enter the URL of that web page and Bloglines will recognize the feed.

And you're done. Then, when you want to check what's going on, go to http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs and the updates you haven't read yet will be indicated in bold the left column.

An open letter to L.L. Bean

To Whom it May Concern:

What a pleasant surprise to discover your 2005 Christmas catalog in my mail last week. What with the 90-degree humidity and all, I completely forgot that Christmas is only a little over three months away! 

Now that you've thoughtfully reminded me, I believe I'll avoid the rush and put up my Christmas lights this week. Perhaps a roomy L.L. Bean sweater and generously pleated pair of pants would be just the thing to wear while I do so.

Thanks again for ignoring all those silly people who claim that such aggressive marketing destroys any shred of authenticity Christmas might still have.

Sincerely,
Damian Chadwick
New York, NY

p.s. I know it's kind of last minute, but if anyone knows of any good New Year's parties, let me know!

Jem Cohen's film Chain in NYC

Those of you who attended the Illegal Art screenings may remember the excerpt from Jem Cohen's Chain. The film wasn't complete at the time but it opens this week at IFC Center, where it'll be showing through September 27.

CHAIN  (99 min. Color, 16mm) 
As regional character disappears and corporate culture homogenizes our surroundings, it’s increasingly hard to tell where you are. In Chain, actual malls, theme parks, hotels, and corporate centers worldwide are joined into a monolithic ‘superlandscape’ that shapes and circumscribes the lives of two women. One works for a corporation, the other is a young drifter.

I haven't yet seen the final product but Jem's stuff (Instrument: Fugazi, Benjamin Smoke) is gorgeous, contemplative, and uniquely his own. This run is crucial in determining whether Chain gets picked up elsewhere so come out and save The Constant Gardener for video.

New York Times review
Village Voice review

The Secretariat Acknowledges that the Representative from the United States is Squirming

I'm getting a little tired of the field day that everyone is having with the Reuters photo of Bush "asking" Condi if he can go to the bathroom. The proper translation of his note is: I usually don't care what foreigners think, but would it be a horrible breach of U.N. protocol if I took a crap while Kofi is talking?

Deer with own headlights

Worried about the rate of car-on-deer collisions, Genetiate has added jellyfish genes to deer to make Bambi glow in the dark.

While I guess this may be good for drivers, I'm not so sure this is a good deal for the deer. Every driver who manages to stop before hitting a deer with his truck will find it much easier to shoot the thing as it tries to run away. And has anyone thought about the consequences to the night-vision goggle industry? (This passed the initial sniff test at the Museum of Hoaxes, so my "research" to authenticate the story is done...)

(Via Annals of Improbable Research)

Doctors fight online critics

A while back I posted about RateMDs, a website that lets people review doctors in their area. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that, surprise, the medical world is outraged about it and similar sites. Several doctors have complained and filed lawsuits against online critics.

I'll grant that the doctor-ranking sites have their problems. As of now, they suffer from too few user reviews and a lack of proper filtering. RateMDs, for example, doesn't require any kind of registration, so a single person could post hundreds of reviews without catching notice. And someone who does post can't go back and edit it later.

But the assumption that doctors are somehow above public scrutiny needs to die a quick (if painful) death. At a time when doctors are advertising themselves alongside auto repair shops and hairdressers, they can't very well demand less scrutiny than restaurants and rock concerts.

Your tax dollars at work

What with all the Katrina coverage lately, we almost missed this one: self-described "ninja parent" (I have no idea either) Marcela Garcini recently published an "angry op-ed" in the Dallas Morning News blasting the city's school system for not falling in line with No Child Left Behind. Little did readers know that Garcini's nonprofit group, received $900,000 from the U.S. Department of Education.

This is hardly the first time the government has been caught secretly promoting itself. But, hey, at least the Department of Ed. got something for it's money this time (though it could have hired me for a lot cheaper). According to USA Today, $1.7 million of our money went to public relations contracts that US officials can't account for, including a $631,775 grant awarded to the Cuban American National Council that appears to have yielded zero products and services. Zero.

(Via Spin of the Day)

Not So Wild Animals

Via Monkeywire, we learn that zoo administrators across the country have been doping exotic animals that show signs of distress with their environment. I don't want to get all PETA about this since I'm lying naked on a bearskin rug and eating chicken salad while typing, but this sounds a lot like experiments are being done on animals just to keep the show entertaining.

"[Antidepressants are] definitely a wonderful management tool, and that's how we look at them," said the Toledo Zoo's mammal curator, Randi Meyerson."To be able to just take the edge off puts us a little more at ease."

Perhaps the zookeepers have been consulting with nursing home administrators, daycare consultants, and school officials. Or vice versa.

In fact, most of the animals are acting appropriately, given their circumstances: they are depressed about confinement, confused by their surroundings, and afraid of animals outside of the herd. In other words, these animals need drugs because they are in zoos.

Look for the pharmaceutical companies to start placing ads in Cat Fancy. Maybe that can shake the industry from the doldrums.

Cutting off the ring

Anyone who doubts that professional athletes will stop at nothing to win, can stop doubting now. Brett Blackwell, an Aussie Rules Football player for Glenelg, is treating the chronic pain in his ring finger by amputating the finger.

Whenever an athlete gets caught using steroids they find another athlete to tut-tut and grandstand about the integrity of the game. (Rafael Palmiero used to be good for this role, but now Curt Schilling has the cameras all for himself.) At the same time, when they can answer anonymously, the vast majority of athletes claim that the only reason that they don't take performance-enhancing drugs (side effects and all) is the fear of getting caught.

Consider Brett Blackwell further proof that athletes tend to be more like Rafael Palmiero than Curt Schilling.

Today is Primary Day in NYC

The Gotham Gazette has the most comprehensive campaign coverage that I've found, so if you don't know who to vote for, that's the place to go. (Gothamist interviewed the people who run the Gazette yesterday.) In addition to the Democratic primary for mayor, there are important elections for Public Advocate, DA in Manhattan and Brooklyn and the Surrogates' Court Judge in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

I found the Mayoral Issue Grid helpful, but depressing. Did you know that Mayor Bloomberg is the only candidate that opposed censoring the exhibits at the Freedom Center at Ground Zero? That all of the candidates - if they express an opinion - support every current stadium issue? That all of the candidates are currently pretending to support the 2d Avenue rail line? That the grid makes all non-incumbents look like they are going to spend lots of money to appeal to small constituencies? Also notable, Bloomberg felt that he had to duck the gay marriage issue.

Voting isn't just for Olympic years, so inform yourself and vote.

Paper Work: an interview with Libby Black

Mercedes Benz 280 SL Libby Black Paper, acrylic, glue

Libby Black is a San Francisco artist who recreates high-end retail products and environments by hand.  The first work I saw of hers was a life-size, convertible Mercedes Benz 280SL made completely out of paper (right). She also recreated a Louis Vuitton retail store in a local gallery, making all the store details and Louis Vuitton product line out of paper, paint, and glue. 

Most recently, she recreated a Kate Spade store inside the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' "Bay Area Now 4" show. Black's Kate Spade store in YBCA is a reproduction of the actual Kate Spade store in San Francisco's Union Square, but Black's pain-staking labor gives viewers an opportunity to reconsider the value and purpose of the products in a way that isn't likely to happen when browsing through the real thing.

I interviewed Libby Black about her earlier work, her recreated stores, her sense of humor, and her run-in with Louis Vuitton's corporate office.

STAY FREE! (Steve Lambert): What questions do you get asked the most about your work?  Either from viewers or otherwise.

LIBBY BLACK: A lot of people think I should design stuff for Louis Vuitton or Kate Spade. I would never do that. I like to take from them.  I get asked "Do you own any of this stuff?" and  "Do you want this stuff?"  The best comment that I get a lot is "You don't look like you make this work!"  I always laugh at that. What does a person that makes Louis Vuitton replicas out of paper look like? I've had this said to me a lot. Finally I asked one person what they were expecting me to look like. The person said someone small and girly. I thought to myself, "then this work would suck!"

STAY FREE!: At the Bay Area Now 4 show Helena Keefe created an audio tour with comments from friends and family of the artists.  I listened to the recording of your mom.  She mentioned shopping at fancy stores with you when you were young and said that you only wanted simple, basic things.  What's your side of that story?  Is your mom right?

LIBBY BLACK: My mom is right, I only wanted the basics. Shopping is what we always do when we are together. I love to shop with her. I love going into Neiman Marcus. The sales ladies call her Mrs. Black when she walks by. It's a whole different experience with her. I feel like nobody can touch me when I am with her in stores. When I go by myself I feel very awkward, and I don't fit in.

STAY FREE!: Was there a turning point for you where you decided, "I don't care about this stuff." 

LIBBY BLACK: I don't think I ever cared about it, but now I am really into it. Of course, only from a distance.

STAY FREE!: How do you feel when you walk into the Louis Vuitton and Kate Spade stores you have recreated?

LIBBY BLACK: When I recreate the stores its about my touch on these high-end objects. I want to create an experience that is more comfortable for the viewer. It is also about what these stores stand for. The Kate Spade is all about a lifestyle. Not only should you own one of her bags but you should read the books on her shelf and go see what she tells you to go see - she makes these recommendations on the Kate Spade website.  It's usually art shows or some sort of event.

When I first set up the Louis Vuitton Store at Manolo Garcia Gallery I felt like I had made something that was so big and had such a big statement that I felt very open. When I was installing I could hear comments by people walking by. I felt very exposed. Kate Spade (inside the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts) was better for me. Although it feels so cute that sometimes I feel uncomfortable about that. I have to say that I like going into my Kate Spade store. It makes me laugh - the kind of laugh that you feel giddy about. It's amazing that people walk in and feel like they need to shop.

STAY FREE!: Have people told you that?  That they feel like they need to shop in your installations?

LIBBY BLACK: Yes, all the time!

STAY FREE!: Do you ever compare your art object prices with their store counterparts?

LIBBY BLACK: About three years ago my prices were under the value of a real purse.  When I did the Louis Vuitton store all my prices were lower than the real LV items.  Now they are above on some products and below on others (mostly the small products).

STAY FREE!: Most artists have personal issues about pricing their work. As any artist becomes more successful, the prices of their work increase and the objects become more of a luxury item. This is especially interesting with you because you are commenting on luxury items. How do you feel about that?

LIBBY BLACK: I feel a ton of different things about that. The higher up this goes, the more it gets into the cycle of consumerism. I had an opening last night where I sold work. I'm already uncomfortable with these things, and then they sell and then I'm even more uncomfortable. It's tricky. I make my work for certain reasons and people buy it for their own reasons. Somethings I make, sometimes I just destory them.

STAY FREE!: I remember dragging my wife over to the Arts Commission window to show her the paper Mercedes and when we got there it was in a ball in the middle of the floor.  It must have been the last day and you had just finished taking the show down. How do you do your research?  Do you walk into a store and start snapping photos?

LIBBY BLACK: I go to the stores and take mental notes. I would love to take pictures but I am way too nervous. I try to blend in as much as I can. I love going into these stores and at the same time feel very out of place. That's one reason I make them. So I can feel good when I am in the store.  I also use the internet a lot.

STAY FREE!: Do you have any instances where people did not understand your sense of humor or did not get the joke? 

LIBBY BLACK: When the Benz was in at the San Francisco Arts Commission someone called and left a message saying "Take the piece of shit out of the window!" I thought that was funny.

When I made my Louis Vuitton store, the real Louis Vuitton store tried to shut us down.

STAY FREE!: Whoa! I think I remember hearing about this. How did they find out about the show?  

LIBBY BLACK: We sent them a packet on my work. Well, we just dropped it off at the store downtown. I was a little nervous. Later, I was called down to their office in Union Square. I thought maybe they wanted me to do a window display. They asked me to shut down on the date that was on the invite. We stayed open for two weeks after that. They were trying to scare me. I left the office and thought to myself that Louis Vuitton had dumped me! What was I going to do without them? I got over it. They thought that their customers were going to be confused. I told them that if their customers are confused, they are idiots.

STAY FREE!: After that, did your attitude change about making the stores? 

LIBBY BLACK: I am still a little nervous. I don't want anything from the stores, but for some reason. I like for the people to know that I recreated their store. YBCA doesn't want me to contact Kate Spade until the show is over. They think she might want them to take it down.

STAY FREE!: If Kate Spade found out and wanted YBCA to take it down, what would happen next?  Do you make contingency plans now?

LIBBY BLACK: I don't have plans if something like that happens. I'm not worried about it because they can't do anything.

STAY FREE!: What would be your ideal reaction from Kate Spade?

LIBBY BLACK: I'm not sure. I think that's what is exciting about the project!

STAY FREE!: The ambiguity that lets me interpret your work as parody or satire may allow others to see it as a celebration of the product and the brand. Do you think that ambiguity allows people to "miss the point."  And in that way, is your work a type of inside joke for a cultural critical-thinker type?

LIBBY BLACK: That's a good question. In the last few years people have started to collect my work. I have a commercial gallery. Some people who like Louis Vuitton and Kate Spade buy my work and some people who "get it" buy my work. Last night at my opening I had someone who bought a piece come up to me and say, "Where's your brand-name clothing?"  They expected me to be head to toe in Chanel or something.  They didn't get it, but they love the work for their own reasons.

After I make something, I can't control what happens.  People are going to buy things and I can't choose who likes it,  who wants to buy it, and for what reasons. I make the pieces how I want them and then they go out into the world.  I make the work because it's fun and I want people to see this lifestyle the way I do and with my touch. 

STAY FREE!: Why not include something to insure that your work isn't "misinterpreted."

LIBBY BLACK: I don't want something that's a one-liner. I want people to bring something to it. I don't want to try to control someone's point of view, even though I do to some extent. I want it open-ended, but I also want to lead the viewer. I feel like I'm educating them, but if they can't get there, what else can I do?

STAY FREE!: I suppose if you included something that made it clear you were making a critical statement, there's no guarantee that someone who loves Kate Spade and loves shopping wouldn't misinterpret that either.

LIBBY BLACK: I'm not being open-ended intentionally, I'm just being true to what I want to do.

STAY FREE!: I've noticed lately you are combining objects like your Powell Peralta/Burberry skateboard, the Louis Vuitton boombox, and the Chanel/Louis Vuitton bicycle.  How do you select what to combine?  Can anything become Louis Vuitton or Burberry, or do you have rules you work by?

LIBBY BLACK: There are some rules. For example, a memory from the past will go with something made up. The Burberry I made because I wanted the Ripper ripping through the plaid. I loved Tony Hawk when I was growing up. That's how it made it to the board. I had a Schwinn bike growing up. I had a white seat and the LV is what fit.  And of course a basket and the 2 gold C's for Chanel was perfect for the bike. Maybe a lot of it is visual.

STAY FREE!: Seems like the absurdity of it plays into that as well. I remember seeing a Hummer H2 with a Burberry interior somewhere.  A Burberry skateboard is pretty ridiculous.  Yet, it's probably never more possible than right now.

LIBBY BLACK: Yes, I love the absurdity!

STAY FREE!: What do you think about how these ultra-high end brands are making their way into hip-hop?

LIBBY BLACK: Oh yeah, like Lil' Kim with LV all over her body? I like it.

STAY FREE!: I've always been fascinated by people who buy those products as an aspirational purchase. They buy something expensive because they want the lifestyle, they want to believe that it's within reach. The product becomes self assurance, even though they have to cut corners because they really can't afford it, or the clothes just don't fit right.  It's about this symbolic membership in a group.

LIBBY BLACK: Yeah.  That's when it's really sad.

STAY FREE!: What do you hope people will think or come away with after seeing your work?

LIBBY BLACK: I like people to laugh. I like for people to think about the craziness of some of these things.  I feel that this next show ["Caught Up in the Moment" at Heather Marx Gallery] will be more serious. Well, serious for me. I'm moving away from the stores.  With the stores I had to follow the rules of the store - the Kate Spade store has a shoe rack, so I have to have a shoe rack.  This new piece has no rules like that. I get to create my own story. You have to look a little further with this one.

---

Libby Black's Kate Spade store at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' Bay Area Now 4 will be open through November 6th 2005.

Libby Black's solo show, "Caught Up in the Moment" at Heather Marx Gallery will be open through October 22nd 2005.  It includes a large installation with a picnic setting and a Gucci canoe.

Make levees, not war

The sweetie of a friend of mind made these t-shirts as a fundraiser for Katrina disaster relief, which you can find here. Proceeds benefit the New Orleans/Baton Rouge Foundation, Direct Relief Interational, and the American Friends Service Committee. Enjoy!

Illegal Art server has crashed and burned

If anyone knows of an affordable, reliable web hosting service for a bandwidth-heavy site (maybe 60 gb/month now), could you please let me know?

Update 9/11/05: After getting a number of recommendations for Dreamhost, I've decided to go with them. Many thanks to those who responded.

Katrina, Katrina

Joey Skaggs just sent us this nifty George Bush photo composite, Fishing Vacation!

Boing Boing has posted some similar Katrina-inspired art. See, for example, this great composite of two AP News photos taken on the same day, August 30.

And I dig this remix of Kanye West's new single ("Gold Digger") by the Legendary K.O., called "George Bush Doesn't Like Black People." (mp3) Obviously, this was inspired by West's appearance on NBC the other night, though it's worth pointing out that West said "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

What Do You Do When Your Local Businesses Suck?

You might think I'm lucky to have a video store twenty feet away from my apartment. I barely have to put on pants to rent a movie on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It would follow that I should be upset that it's closing after 20 years, but I'm more interested to see what comes in to take its place. You see, this video store sucked. It could quite possibly be the worst video store I've ever been in and yet I kept coming back only because it was so damned convenient. There's another video store three blocks away, and it too is a prince in the court of Suck. The next closest option is a Blockbuster (8 blocks) and after that a really excellent hole in the wall (16 blocks) which is where I've been renting my videos ever since I decided it was worth the half hour round trip. I don't even consider the Blockbuster as an option, but I can say that because I live in a place with a plethora of video stores. My question to you is, what does somebody do when they only have one local choice and it totally sucks?

Another example in my neighborhood is the local FedEx/UPS/copy/fax shop. Horrible. They don't answer their phone and they barely answer you when you're standing right in front of them at the counter. They're overpriced. They're painfully slow. And rude. Etc. So I go 20 blocks out of my way to the UPS Store because they don't fuck up my packages. And they're nice. And they help me. I would always rather patronize the local shop, but sometimes that's such a terrible customer service experience that I would rather go to the big guy. Anybody else have similar stories? Laments?

FEMA: "You Won't Know Us By the Trail of Dead"

From Editor & Publisher:

FEMA Blocks Photos of New Orleans Dead

Forced to defend what some critics consider its slow response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from New Orleans.

FEMA, which is leading the rescue efforts, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims, Reuters reported.

A FEMA spokeswoman told the wire service that space was need on the rescue boats and assured Reuters that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect."

I wonder if there are any bloggers around New Orleans who could start a flickr group?

Plunge into Advanced Homorosity!

Hey funnypeople! Wanna write some comedy? Want to write some material that ever-so-subtly suggests that English is a recently acquired skill and the laws of punctuation remain an obtuse mystery? Then I think you may be interested in this.

A few quotes:

"Setting folks up at your comic table, and then opening their eyes to realize that what theyre eating well, you know, its not pretty."

"Ready to take the plunge into advanced homorosity? Get going with our Expert Comedy Writers package, and get funny today!"

Thanks to my friend (and fellow VGG collectivist) Al!

The All-Consuming Century

Via Adfreak, I just found out about a four-hour BBC documentary showing here in New York through tomorrow: Century of the Self, a four-hour series about Freud, Bernays and the rise of consumer culture and mass persuasion in the 20th century.

I had never heard of the documentary before, which is a bit surprising because it's from 2002, but not when you consider that the series wasn't made available commercially on VHS or DVD. And why might that be? Because, like a lot of BBC documentaries, the producers couldn't clear the rights to historical footage and images for commercial release.

Fortunately, British journalist and copyfighter Tony Gosling has made a VHS version of Century of the Self - along with other restricted BBC documentaries - available cheaply "to encourage the commercial release of these culturally valuable works." Should a film that he's offering become available commercially, Mr. Gosling will stop selling it.

Unfortunately, Gosling only has the movies in the European PAL format. While newer VCRs in the United States may be compliant, a solid majority aren't. If there are any techies out there who'd be willing to transfer "Century" to a digital format, please let me know. I would love to purchase a copy myself. Or maybe we could even make a torrent file of it.

What part of "fleeting" didn't you understand?

For the last week the news randomizer that sits atop the inbox in my gmail account has periodically greeted me with:

Word of the day - evanescent (adj) fleeting

Kanye West video

Whatever you think of the Bush adminstration's response to Katrina and the claims made about it, you must watch the video clip of rapper Kanye West's appearance on NBC's Hurricane Relief benefit. The expression on Mike Myers's face at the end is simply priceless -- a rare moment of something real poking through television's gloss. (I especially love how it looks like West is reading off a teleprompter, even though he's most certainly not.)

For background, see Boing Boing.

Video: Bittorrent* | WMV

*recommended, but you'll need Bittorrent

TV makes you smarter, huh?

More fodder for our Steven Johnson file, from the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA journal:

A Television in the Bedroom Is Associated with Lower Standardized Test Scores among Third Grade Students (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159:607-613)

TV Has Negative Impact on Very Young Children's Learning Abilities
(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159:619-625)

Young Children Who Watch Less TV More Likely to Finish College
(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159:614-618)

Postcards from Hawaii

Cynthia and I are visiting family in Kauai.  (Yeah it's awful, I have inlaws on a tropical island.)  Here's some signs and things we thought would be interesting to Stay Free! readers...

This I got on the plane.  As if my first postcard from Hawaii would be to Rubschlager asking for sodium content.

Cynthia spotted this gem at the county fair.  So many macho Hawaiian men have been searching for a way to wear pearls without being called "a Nancy."

This we found on a Café bulletin board in the middle of nowhere.  As far as we can tell, it's a rock.  And not even a very large one.  I'll be happy to pass the full phone number on, but serious inquiries only please.  P.S. This picture will be framed in our living room within the month.

Kauai is the kind of place where someone who has a yurt and someone who needs a yurt can get in touch through a handmade flyer at a pizza place.  By the way, in my fantasy world the yurt seller uses the money to buy a geodesic dome. 

Attn: college students, consumers

When buying books online this fall, please remember your friends the bloggers. For anything you buy from Amazon or Powells via this site, for instance, we get a kickback of 5 to 7 percent. And that includes not only books but DVDs, toasters, Cartier watches, and finger paint.

Handy search engines at the right of each page. End of pitch.

Carrie DJing online Saturday

This Saturday, Sept. 3, I'll be doing a DJ shift on my beloved college radio station, WXYC-Chapel Hill, from 6 pm to 9 pm (playing mostly 1950s-1970s pop, soul, r&b, and honky-tonk, with a bit of hip hop and rawk thrown in). Those of you in internetland can listen online here.

Negativland art show opens in NYC - Fri. Sept. 9

And speaking of Negativland, the band's first ever fine art show is coming up here in New York, from September 9 to October 22, at Gigantic Art Space. Joe, the robot maker interviewed below, made an animatron of Abraham Lincoln for the exhibit that must be seen to be believed (I have done neither).

We'll be at the opening - on Friday, September 9, from 6 to 9 pm. at Gigantic (59 Franklin Street in Tribeca. Map) - so come out and say "hi." I'm going to try to rope Mark into getting me more images, so I hope to have more to say about the show later.

Incidentally, Negativland is looking for venues for the art show in other cities; if any of you are connected to a place that might be interested, please email markhosler at bellsouth.net and let him know.

New from Stay Free! magazine

From Stay Free! issue #24:

JESUS IN SPACE
Negativland's Mark Hosler talks to a man who makes robots and murals for Christian theme parks.

Jets don't like the bargains at Yards Sale

The Hudson Yards are back on the market. The Jets formally withdrew their bid to buy the property. The refusal by the state to back the city's generous offer to subsidize the project meant that the Jets would have to pay something close to (but still well below) market value, and the Jets are apparently only interested in buying at "Going Out of Business Sale" prices.

Now that the fix has failed, maybe a real bidder will make a reasonable bid for the property. Or maybe the City can, I don't know, make it into something that will directly beneifit the public? Either way, that means that the High Line will be around until the rail yards are developed, so climb on and enjoy the view.