[Click HERE to enlarge] NEW YORK TIMES: The World Wildlife Fund on Tuesday condemned an unauthorized advertisement that depicted dozens of planes heading into Lower Manhattan, with a tag line reading, “The Tsunami Killed 100 Times More People Than 9/11.” The ad had been pitched to the Brazilian branch of the World Wildlife Fund by an advertising agency and rejected, said Steve Ertel, a spokesman for the group. “It was a concept to our office in Brazil and it was rejected. From that point, we have not been able to get a hold of the agency to find out how […]
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
ADBUST: WTF Were They Thinking?
Pepsi actually paid somebody good money to do this? Reminds us of that dream date with Madonna back around the time of the Sex book that went horribly awry. Let’s just say it left a bad taste in our mouth.* *Just to be clear, we were being facetious. We have never had a dream date, nor any other kind of date, with Madonna, nor has she ever urinated on or in us. We apologize in advance for any distress this misunderstanding might have created.
BUSTED: What Ever Happened To Annie Leibovitz?
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Despite being a compulsive perfectionist whose shoots cost a fortune to produce, Leibovitz was very much in demand. People spoke of a fabled “contract for life” from Condé Nast, thought to bring her as much as $5 million annually. (The estimate didn’t seem far-fetched; a decade ago, the Times reported that Condé Nast chairman Si Newhouse had instructed Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter not to “nickel and dime” Leibovitz over the issue of an extra quarter-million dollars in her contract.) She was said to earn a day rate of $250,000 just to set foot in a studio […]
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Suing Illegal File-Sharers Back To The Stone Age Is Perfectly Constitutional
[Image via NCSC] ZDNET: Jammie Thomas-Rasset was hit with a $1.9 million verdict for filesharing 24 songs — roughly $80,000 per song. Is that even constitutional? Thomas-Rasset’s lawyers filed an appeal saying it’s not. Friday, the Justice Department weighed in with an opinion that it is. Under the Copyright Act’s statutory damages provision, the jury had a wide berth to assign damages – anywhere from $750 to $30,000 for standard violations and from $30,000 to $150,000 for “willful violations.” The argument is basically that such high numbers are punitive in nature and punitive damages need to bear some resemblance to […]
HOT DOC: Memo From Tierney
Best we can tell, this is the equivalent of telling your credit card company: “This debt I’ve accrued is way too high for me to ever to pay off, so how about I give you one fifth of what I owe you and we can call it even, hmmmkay?” The bad news is that shit don’t fly for people like you and me. The good news for the Inquirer/Daily News is that Brian Tierney ain’t people like you and me. PREVIOUSLY: A PRAYER FOR THE CITY: God Save The Philadelphia Inquirer And Daily News And All Who Sail On Them
ROAD TO REDEMPTION: We’ve Only Just Begun
PHAWKER: For obvious reasons, we have been thinking a lot about Michael Vick as of late. We have been thinking about the doggie Auschwitz he ran for six years for fun and for profit and about how it cost him everything: his career, his seven figure net worth, his freedom and, in some corners, his membership in the human race. We have also been thinking that this is what happens when you take a man out of the ‘hood but you don’t take the ‘hood out of the man. And while that may explain Vick’s crimes, it does not excuse […]
TONITE: It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
[Click image to activate Internets] NEW YORK TIMES: Though the third season of “Mad Men” didn’t quite begin with the jumpstart we were hoping for, it did at least offer a comforting “continuity of service,” to borrow a phrase from Don Draper and Salvatore Romano’s meeting with the father-and-son executives of London Fog. This particular episode didn’t shake us to our core, but it did pick up nicely where Season 2 left off. Like a comfortable Thanksgiving dinner, every crazy member of this extended family was reliably acting out his or her established role. MORE NEW YORK TIMES: This week […]
I, GAMER: Reeding Iz Funn
BY ADAM BONANNI Best I can tell, the only place in the known universe where bronze is worth more than gold is in Bookworm Adventures 2, the latest black hole disguised as a game from developer Popcap designed to suck up all your free time. Imagine scrabble with the twist of roleplaying game conventions: A health bar, potions, and a mess of augmentations and enhancements that you can give your words. If you’re unfamiliar with the game, I would be pretty curious to know what you are thinking right now. Bookworm Adventures 2 is actually much simpler than it sounds, […]
OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES: 10 Year Old Damon Weaver Interviews The President Of The United States
Putting aside, for a moment, all our well-earned cynicism about politicians kissing babies and using cute little kids as props, the fact that this even happened kinda brings tears to our eyes. Keep hope alive, Damon!
LET THE DOGS OUT: Eagles Sign Michael Vick
USA TODAY: Philadelphia Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko confirmed to USA TODAY via email that the team has signed the former Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl Quarterback. ESPN is reporting that the Eagles have signed Vick to a two-year deal. Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, confirmed the signing to ESPN. Fox is reporting that the first year of the deal is worth $1.6 million. The Eagles have a team option for a second year at $5.2 million. MORE RELATED: How Michael Vick Went Bankrupt Amount jailed star quarterback Michael Vick spent from July ‘06 to July ‘08, according to recent bankruptcy papers: $17.7 […]
ARTHUR KADE: The Journey (Part One)
First installment of the Arthur Kade mockumentary by Kevin Brueck. PREVIOUSLY: AMERICAN ASSHOLE: Q&A With Arthur Kade PREVIOUSLY: MAILBAG: Throw Another Kade On The Barbie, Mate
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]