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September 21, 2004
Mr. Sphincter Could Already Be A Winner 
 
If you're as tired as I am of unsolicited junk mail offers (surveys, organizations, special offers, whatever), I think I've raised the bar in the realm of "payback".

You may have seen posted online, or in your email: the idea of taking all of that junk mail crap and stuffing it back into their postage-paid envelopes for the senders to dispose of. Well, I have an idea that could cripple direct mail marketers (I can dream, can't I?).

The idea?

Contaminate the database. Fill out any form you can with a 'paper person'. Be creative. I've already filled out direct mail responses from Dan Druff, Jay Sluicebox, and Red Sphincter.

Yeah, I'm sure that some of these will get caught before causing any serious interference or entertainment. But the 'performance art' aspect of this whole endeavor is almost sublime.

In the meantime, I'm waiting for a letter in my mailbox that begins with a heartfelt "Dear Mr. Sphincter . . ."



posted by James  [link] | |

An Unmistakable Message From God 
 
The next time a neighbor, friend, or passerby offers idle observations or personal opinions while professing to speak for God (especially the hyper-conservative ones), rock their worldview with this.

I'm still waiting for the Naderite tribe to be smited . . . (smoted??). Meh.



posted by James  [link] | |

September 16, 2004
Johnny Ramone, 1948-2004 
 
Rocker Johnny Ramone ca. 1982, image copyright unknownFeedback blasting out my ears
Makes me so high
I love all the monitor men
But why are they alive?
The van is make me crazy
It's just like being in the navy

Doomsday, doomsday's coming - 1981
But until things blow
I'm gonna have some fun
The bubble's going to explode
Probably never live to get old

But I just wanna have some fun
Probably won't see no money
I just wanna have some fun
Before they throw me in the sanitarium

Feedback blasting out my ears
Makes me so high
I love all the monitor men
But why are they alive ?
Well Monte's making me crazy
It's just like being in the navy
-- The Ramones, "All The Way"

posted by Lenka Reznicek  [link] | |

September 11, 2004
Remembering 
 
Dear New York,

I'm sorry I couldn't be there today. I feel guilty that I couldn't be present to observe. I had to look up the weather there to find out it was, again, a clear, beautiful day in September. I almost wish it weren't, because I know that it just acts as a reminder for so many in the city of the perfect indian summer day we were having three years ago.

Things are very different here, a continent away. They're clearly sympathetic and thoughtful about this date, but... it feels like an observance. Not that it's not sincere, but people are sincere on Memorial Day or in remembering Pearl Harbor, too. They just don't feel them at a visceral level. [Anil Dash]

posted by Lenka Reznicek  [link] | |

Listen to the Words 
 
When Jon Stewart and the joke peddlers at the Daily Show can provide more thought-provoking perspective than Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and the rest of them . . .

well, I have to wonder if maybe it's Dan, Peter, and Tom that I should really be laughing at.

posted by James  [link] | |

September 08, 2004
Viacom Killed The Video Star 
 
I can tell I'm pushing 40, because try as I might, I can't help but roll my eyes over "how lousy everything is nowadays, compared to how it was back in the day . . ."

I've watched over the past decade and a half as music videos have been replaced by a mind-numbing collection of contrived "reality" shows, product placement, and (damn you to the blood-spewing pus-filled pits of hell,VH1) instant nostalgia . . .

I mean, 'I Love the '80s' . . . sure, I can see that argument. But 'The Best Week Ever'?? WTF. It was LAST WEEK, for crying out loud. Perhaps it was that MTV-induced attention span my parents warned me about in 1982, now coming home to roost.

I'm not so foolish to think that my favorite music videos weren't ever about promoting products. Of course they were -- I've got the record collection to prove it.

Simply put, I miss tuning in to music videos when I want to. Any music videos. Anything-- even the stale party favors cranked out by today's Top 40 posers.

But here's something for the folks in marketing to think about. I can have quicker, easier and cheaper (i.e., my budget won't allow for MTV2 anytime soon) access to a variety of music videos via Winamp 5 internet TV (thanks Lenka) anytime I want. And so do my internet-savvy children. Kids who prefer broadband over cable TV any day of the week.

Ahh, who am I kidding? Viacom owns an ass-load of online product too.

What can I say?

"I want my MTV."

Where are you, Buggles? The world needs you now more than ever.





posted by James  [link] | |

 
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September 21, 2004
Mr. Sphincter Could Already Be A Winner by James
An Unmistakable Message From God by James
September 16, 2004
Johnny Ramone, 1948-2004 by Lenka Reznicek
September 11, 2004
Remembering by Lenka Reznicek
Listen to the Words by James
September 08, 2004
Viacom Killed The Video Star by James

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