Boston Phoenix, June 3-9

"Folk Tales"

Oh my God! I've landed an interview with Ani -- gasp, pant -- DiFranco. I'm so excited I think I'll toss all my critical faculties out the window! Who cares that she's been milking the same shtick since she was a teenager? Who cares that all her recent albums sound like they rolled off an assembly line? She's a goddess! She's so cute and little! She can do no wrong! I think I'll go ask her all the questions she wants to answer and agree with every word she utters. Pant pant.

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Nerve, May 27

"The Not-A-Man Empire" by Jane Czyzselska

The author of this intriguing essay attends Turkey's first "Man for a Day" workshop in Istanbul. Instructed in the ways of cross-dressing, she explores the city as a man.

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L.A. Weekly, June 4-10

"Star Power" by Christine Pelisek

So you know those stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that are the perennial focus of tourist snapshots? They cost $15,000 a piece, up from $10,000 last year -- and the celebs have to pay for the privilege! Christine Pelisek gets all in a huff about the $150,000 Hollywood's Chamber of Commerce makes each year off of these puppies, and seems to pity the movie stars -- poor, poor Demi Moore! -- for being charged this exorbitant fee. Like making millions of dollars for a couple months' work doesn't justify a little milking by profiteering city bureaucrats? Like being so egotistical that you want your name on a star for the world to worship at doesn't deserve just a little financial punishment? Like fame shouldn't be bought? Methinks Ms. Pelisek has lived in Los Angeles a little too long.

"The Pedestrian Always Rings Twice" by Peter Hartz

Pushing the pedestrian signal more than once does you no good, foolish walker. The signal is only sent once, so save your finger for better things -- what exactly those things are, I'll leave to the fondlings of your imagination. Peter Hartz takes readers behind the scenes of Los Angeles' automatic traffic-control center. As one who loves to understand the mechanisms behind everyday occurrences -- and not just in advertising -- I can only applaud this fascinating piece, and highly recommend D.J. Waldie's poetic "Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir" to fans of the urban-planning genre.

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Because I know you cannot get enough information about the glorious world of advertising, not to mention consumer culture, I offer this selection of further reading.

"Space for Sale" Advertisers run amok in public spaces! How much is too much? (by Jason Gay, Boston Phoenix)

"Beyond the Pleasure Principle" Adbusters' "Buy Nothing Day"? Pure capitalist hype! (by Ana Marie Cox, Feed)

Beer Frame: The Journal of Inconspicuous Consumption Paul Lukas spends a lot of time in supermarkets in order to write this hilarious zine, which deconstructs "the details of consumer culture -- details that are either so weird or obscure that we'd never see them, or so ubiquitous that we've essentially stopped seeing them." In the March 1998 issue, he takes a hard look at "New and Improved" labeling, the John F. Kennedy 50-cent piece and Wimpy, Wimpy, Wimpy salsa.

Top Ten Censored Press Releases of 1998, No. 3 In a delightful mockery of Project Censored, McSweeney's publishes verbatim the press releases that garnered the least results.

The Baffler For a heaping dose of pretentious, anti-consumerist, masturbatory writing -- come on, you know you want it -- order a copy of The Baffler from its "Web site" (their quotes, not mine, which should give you a fairly good idea what these kids are all about).
salon.com | June 4, 1999

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