Don't encourage me. This is what happens.

Presenting the convertible segway—a segway that converts into Barack Obama! No one will be able to withstand its cool charms and policy initiatives—you'll always have friends! And it will never lose its balance or balanced reasoning thanks to its thought-powered internal gyroscope. It's the perfect companion and mode of transport.

Fix the economy while commuting to work! End the war on terror while parking! Meet with heads of state and yield for pedestrians at the same time!

You can't go wrong with the fictional Barack Husegway Obama.

photojournalism

more at boston.com

i love ffffound

SiP

unrelated Obama image

I've been re-reading Strangers in Paradise, which is without a doubt one of my all-time top five favorite comics. I'm finally caught up to the place I'd left off a couple of years ago and I am very excited to finally finish the series—a series I started reading sometime around 1995. It's been a long, circuitous, and melodramatic route, but it's been consistently entertaining, and you'll have a hard time finding a comic book by an artist who can convey such nuanced expressions in his characters. Yes, there are some really awful love poems scattered throughout, a few clichéd plot twists, some awkward and unbelievable moments. But more often there are moments of emotional honesty and poignancy, a healthy dose of misandry, and a sincere and successful attempt at the romantic that is hard to find these days.

If you haven't read it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. How often do you find a romance–thriller–soap opera with political intrigue? It's stocked in a fair number of libraries, so you can read it for free. Or if you're the purchasing type, it's stocked at every decent book store and comics shop.

the cleaner

Aaron McGruder, creator of the Boondocks, had this to say regarding our leadership change:

I did say I was cautiously pessimistic about Obama's Presidency - but this is simply acknowledging the reality of an American Empire that is out of control and on the verge of collapse. Let us not forget that on the eve of the election, we witnessed a near trillion dollar robbery of the US treasury. That robbery is still taking place. I do not blame President Obama, but I do not believe the financial and corporate interests that own and control this country will fold so easily. I do not question the integrity of the man as much as the power of his office - which I believe has greatly diminished over the years. I believe the Federal Reserve Bank, the Military Industrial Complex, and the massive corporate interests that run this country have more power than our new President. I hope I am wrong.

After 9/11, I witnessed most of this country become obsessed with squashing dissent and silencing critics. I hope this election does not turn Black America towards this same, fascist mind state; but already I am starting to see it, and it saddens me greatly. I absolutely wish our new President and his family success and safety. But after all I have witnessed in my lifetime, and especially in the last eight years, I am not ready to lay down my skepticism or my outrage for this government. To do so would be unwise and, ironically enough, anti-American.

This probably more accurately sums up my feelings than anything else I've read. I have to say, I never really thought of the recent bailout/money grab as robbery, but when you consider that hundreds of millions of dollars were handed over to corporations without conditions and a complete lack of oversight, you have to wonder whether either (a) our government is that stupid or (b) certain people in our government are really that crafty. Who would benefit from handing over a few hundred million dollars of other people's money to some very powerful people and not suffer any consequences? A lame duck president and his buddies. Mutual backscratching on this level isn't unthinkable (cough::cough::halliburton). Frankly though, given how the previous administration handled most of their reign, I'm leaning toward option (a). If the democrats in congress have shown us anything in the past few years, it's they're like a bunch of headless chickens running around aimlessly, and completely mindless.

Obama at least is making somewhat of an effort. He's reversing the ban on federal funding for international organizations that perform or provide information on abortions. He reiterated his support of Roe v. Wade saying it "not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters."

pizza

my largest pizza ever, which really isn't so large. probably about 14". also, you'll notice the bottom is looking a little blond. i'd like to blame this largely on it being the last pizza of the night, which means the stone had a lot of the heat sucked out of it by the previous five or six pizzas. i also blame the oven and myself for not managing it better. better luck next time, i guess.

good speech.

the circle is complete

what's as good as Beyoncé's video for Single Ladies? well, not a lot really. which is why there are so many people imitating it:

it's a ho-hum life, for me.

so, no news right? i mean, we're all tired of talking about economics and the end of wealth, aren't we?

obama is still the front page story, even after almost two and a half months and i'm bored of him already. when do we get to elect another most powerful man in the world?

did you hear the lovefest that was the hillary clinton confirmation hearing? no two ways about it, senators love other senators becoming secretaries. no one really wants to listen to a bunch of politicians thanking each other profusely. it was boring. i give it a C-. when are we going to get on with the british parlimentary system where everyone yells at each other and the prime minister has to face his legislature and defend his position?

oh yeah, and birds downed a plane into the hudson river. you probably knew that. still. everyone survived. everyone. when was the last time an airliner crashed and everyone survived? i'm asking that in all seriousness. if anyone knows, please tell me.

Going to the Fountains of Wayne show tonight. It'll be an acoustic set. At least that's what they're advertising. They're probably best known for writing the music to That Thing You Do, their hit single Stacy's Mom, and co-writing a fair amount of the music to the Colbert Christmas Special. But, honestly, they are much better than any of those:

Fountains of Wayne—Valley Winter Song

favorite cuts of 2008

in no particular order:

The Rentals—Colorado
Blissed-out acoustic-synth-pop.

Madonna & Timbaland & Justin Timberlake—4 Minutes
Timbaland's magical dancing unicorn beat.

Raphael Saadiq—100 Yard Dash
Perfect? Maybe.

Olmecha Supreme—Bebestyle (Live)
NZ's best live band finally releases something resembling a live album. Seemlessly spans three musical genres in 3 and 3/4 minutes.

Mates of State—Get Better
"Everything's gonna get lighter, even if it never gets better"

Theresa Anderson—Japanese Art
Kitschy, crafty, catchy.

Lupe Fiasco—Hip-Hop Saved My Life
Because it sounds like it did.

Beyoncé—Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
Pop gold. Seriously. Should replace the C-note.

Lenka—The Show
2008's Feist releases 2008's 1 2 3 4

Britney Spears—Break the Ice
Ties what's left of Britney's sex appeal to dancetastic synth lines from heaven.

LCD Soundsystem—New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down
Find a New Yorker who can't relate. Triple dare.

Weezer—I Can Love
Buried in the bonus tracks of a mediocre album. God only knows why.

pigeons? PIGEONS!

what. the. fuck.

Did anyone else know this was going on?



More from the Nation:
NOPD Responds to Nation Investigation
Conyers Responds to Vigilante Revelations

NOLA.com:
White Gunmen Go On The Record About Shooting Blacks During Katrina: "If it moved, we shot it!"

BET.com:
Police Respond to Report of Racist Murders in New Orleans

laughy moo year.

8tracks.
Alicia Keys,
Mary Jane Hooper,
Sam Cooke,
Aretha Franklin,
Otis Redding,
Raphael Saadiq,
Lauryn Hill,
Carl Hall.

no one to blame but our idiot selves.

from the washingtonpost.com:

U.S. Debt Expected To Soar This Year: $2 Trillion Increase May Test Federal Ability to Borrow
"the national debt is projected to jump by as much as $2 trillion this year, an unprecedented increase that could test the world's appetite for financing U.S. government spending."

is this not the problem that got us into dire straits in the first place?

lessons we were supposed to learn from the mortgage/credit fiasco:
1. don't lend money to people who can't pay it back.
2. don't borrow more money than you can pay back.

was anyone paying attention?

pants.

magenta toner.

IED

a toner cartridge exploded on me yesterday. luckily i was wearing glasses, otherwise i might be blind in my right eye. and my pants are now magenta.

xkcd:

they love the gulyas

we've had a cold snap. someone told me it's the coldest it's been in portland in 30 years. we actually had a snow day at work. it's not supposed to snow here. the result has been much movie watching and hot chocolate. spatzel stew is very popular in my house these days.

i've also been introduced to veronica mars, which turns out is a pretty good show. bonus points for the theme song being the dandy warhol's we used to be friends, which is both thematically appropriate and a great pop song (though, it maybe sticks in your head a little to easily).

my fellow marketeers, or why i hate being in a marketing department

Alex Leo posted, what seemed to me to be, fairly reasonable remarks about sexist trends in advertising:

This was a big year for women: The first serious female presidential candidate, the first predominately female state senate, the first female Top Chef. Yet the advertising world has not caught up to the advances of half our population and continues to use stereotypes and violence to prey on our most vile desires. Here are the worst of them--the trends that won't die despite our cultural outrage, and personal boredom.

continue reading...

I was appalled, though not surprised, at some of the hateful responses readers posted. While I don't agree with all of Alex's analysis regarding the ads in question, I do agree with her overall point. I got into it a little bit with some of the commenters on the site, which I know is an exercise in futility. But sometimes it's fun to argue. Anyway, I've cut and pasted the exchange below. I get kind of high-horse-y in places, but if you read some of the earlier comments before my post, you might have a better understanding of why I ended up with that tone. (Parental units, please note that there's some harsh language used here.)

Flushy McBucketpants said...

i think a number of you are missing the point of what this post is about. (or maybe i am?)

it seems to me that this post isn't in opposition to sex in advertising. it's against perpetuating what should, at this point, be outdated and unacceptable modes of thinking about women—the idea that women are sex objects and should be subservient, that their reason for being is to please men.

the post's author does not complain about ad campaigns like the one that Dove ran not too long ago featuring "real" women in their underwear or the Marithe & Francois Girbaud take on Da Vinci's last supper (http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9694/thelastbrunch2ha.jpg), which are both sexy, eye-catching, and tasteful.

just as there would be an outcry if there was an ad-campaign depicting people in blackface, people should be upset when women are treated like sex toys.

it is offensive. and in this case it's also dehumanizing.

December 16, 2008 1:51 AM

Flushy McBucketpants said...

furthermore, regardless of the narrative that the viewer places on these images, they all have a clear subtext. You may not see the Dolce & Gabbana ad as as explicitly a gang rape scene, but it would be hard not to see it as an image depicting male dominance—a man appears to be holding a woman down while a group of other men look on without any of them showing a hint of misgiving. she's just an object for them to take advantage of.

the BMW ad is sexualizing a model with a very young features. while the model may in real life be of age, that does not seem to be what they are hoping to depict. and it doesn't excuse what seems to be an endorsement of pedophilia.

as for the LAMB ad, maybe there are societies where getting jizzed in the face is a noble deed to be trumpeted and applauded—the last ceremonial act before being crowned queen (or king) of all the land. but generally in the US, at least, it's considered somewhat degrading, and is often nothing more than the climax of male power fantasies.

for those of you that have the urge to defend these ads. stop and think if for a second. are you in favor of perpetuating male dominance? should children be portrayed as sex objects? were women put on this planet with the sole purpose of pleasing men?

i like beautiful, naked people. i like sexy ads. i don't like these ads.

December 16, 2008 2:32 AM

David Kendall said...

Flashy, your post confirms that we each view an ad through our own eyes, bringing to it what we want to bring.

Now, I'm not trying to defend or attack the ads -- in a country where there's freedom of expression, even in advertising, you can't stop people from depicting whatever they think will sell their product -- unless you stop buying the product. But my point is sex sells, so they use it.

If you're objecting to the "objectification" of women, ANY ad does that. It then becomes a question of degree. I mean, you can't have "beautiful, naked people" and "sexy ads" without objectifying the subjects in the ad. A naked girl advertising soda is still naked, still an object of desire (supposedly), and is still being used to hawk a product, whether she's standing in the street, sitting on a bench, or lying on a bed with a guy.

The same is true about a beautiful girl, in tight jeans and a t-shirt, hawking the same soda. You're attracted to the girl, and then you notice the soda.

Same with the ads for men's cologne on tv -- you see guys with 6-pack abs playing soccer, and then you're told about the product. ALL advertising with models is objectifying the subjects for the sake of the product (unless the ad is simply a picture of the product). And ads that depict pseudo-rape, or purported "pedophilia" are simply pushing the envelope as far as they can before they alienate the consumers to the point where they won't buy the product.

As I mentioned before, the ads are not going to create the desire in people to rape, or stalk children, or act like sluts. They may attact people with those predipositions to the product, which is the point of advertising, but they don't cause the problem, and they don't perpetuate it. They feed on a pre-existing attitude for the sake of sales.

December 16, 2008 4:02 AM

Flushy McBucketpants said...

David—I agree with you that all understanding is subjective. However, I wasn't intending for my argument to be about personal perception or semantics, but rather about social perception, social norms, values, and morals.

I do not believe that men will go running about gang-raping women upon viewing the Dolce & Gabbana ad. However, I do believe that images like that both reflect and help perpetuate patriarchal tendencies. When images like that are presented as a selling point instead of in a critical light, it only reinforces those kinds of gender roles whether you're interested in participating in a dominant–submissive relationship, or whether you're just interested in socially interacting with the opposite sex. We see the effects of male dominated society everywhere, from the gender split in classroom participation, to who runs the country (politically and economically), to the picture people imagine when they think of the words scientist and homemaker.

If I had a daughter I wouldn't want her bombarded by images of submissive, subservient women whose value lies in their ability to get men sexually aroused.

Objectifying people for beauty and objectifying people for sex are two different things (though there is often crossover). But it's not simply a matter of objectification. It's also an issue of respect for women and general decency. I may sound like some pro-censorship conservative whack-o, but I don't believe I am. I just want the people making these ads to be more judicious in their representation of people. I don't know why that's such a difficult thing to accomplish.

December 16, 2008 5:39 PM

MarcWPhoto said...

Flushy:

Re: I just want the people making these ads to be more judicious in their representation of people. I don't know why that's such a difficult thing to accomplish.

It's not difficult to accomplish. However, the people who make ads are not being paid to do what you think they should do. They are being paid to do what their clients ask, which is to get people to buy their clients' goods and services. If your way worked better, they would do that.

If your way does work better and they won't do it, the obvious answer is for you to open your own ad agency and laugh all the way to the bank.

M

December 16, 2008 5:45 PM

Flushy McBucketpants said...

Marc, I understand that people are paid to do this. But I'm pretty sure I gave a couple examples (Dove's "Real Women" campaign and the Marithe & Francois Girbaud Last Supper of ad) in one of my comments above that successfully used sex and beauty but in less dangerous ways.

Just because one way works doesn't mean another way doesn't. And just because one works doesn't mean it should be used. Company's use bribery and espionage all the time to turn a larger profit and get ahead of their competitors, that doesn't make that kind of behavior good.

Just because one type of ad helps generate profit doesn't mean that (a) it also doesn't have detrimental effects and (b) there aren't other ads that would work just as well without the negative effects.

Frankly, this type of advertising (e.g., the D&G ad) is not just morally reprehensible in many ways, but it's also unimaginative and lazy.

Yes, it's the ad agency's job to give the client what it wants, but somehow I doubt that the client asked for an ad that could be construed as representing gang-rape.

December 17, 2008 3:15 AM

MarcWPhoto said...

The difference being, bribery and corporate espionage are against the law. :)

If D&G shared your opinion about the ad, they could have just not used it. Since they are a billion-dollar fashion icon and you are, well, Flushy McBucketpants, I am not yet convinced that they are idiots and you are superior in your evaluation of what sells and what doesn't.

If it makes you feel any better, the ads have been banned in some countries and the US will doubtless follow in their progressive footsteps at some point. Eventually you will win.

M

December 17, 2008 8:04 AM

Flushy McBucketpants said...

It does not make me feel better that these ads are banned. That's not really what I'm looking for.

I am looking for some compassion and consideration, some respect for fellow humans.

When these kinds of ads are the outliers, it's not so much of a problem. We can look at them and say, "Wow. That's provocative." When these ads are the norm, they prove to be both reflections of society's accepted norms and also buttress those cultural standards.

I think promoting misogyny is wrong, whether it helps you earn money or not. That many people appear not to care about our society accepting and promoting misogyny just shows how heartless those people are.

Obviously this upsets me.

December 18, 2008 12:57 AM

Uncle.

wordpress is nice, but for some reason they make embedding things like video a pain in the ass. also, i do like not having to pay for the privilege of altering my html and css when i want. as such, i've come crawling back to blogger begging for forgiveness.

* * *

muxtape in all its original freewheeling glory was killed by the RIAA, but there are a couple websites vying to be legit replacements. one of them is 8tracks.




http://8tracks.com/egadman/

changing of the guard.

i'm going to try moving my blog to wordpress:

http://egadman.wordpress.com/

we'll see how it goes.