200 Dollars On eBay
By Adam F on Sunday, July 20th, 2008This is what happens when the Memphis music scene stops being polite and starts getting real. Jay – as always – plays the voice of reason.
Archive for the 'the people's court' Category
He’s Out Of Order, She’s Out Of Order, The Whole Damn Trial Is Out Of Order
By Gerard on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Let this serve as a cautionary tale for the entire Matador roster; vomiting on the audience will not be tolerated in Judge Judy’s court of (faux) law.
Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Saying “I Have No Ideas Of My Own”
By Gerard on Thursday, June 7th, 2007the real thing :
Michael Palmieri's video for The New Pornographers' "Sing Me Spanish Techno"
subsequently, we have Girl In A Coma's "Road To Home" directed by Greg Olliver :
In the words of SF Weekly's Brock Keeling, "With all due respect to the plagiarist(s) of the latter, the former is way superior."
We couldn't put it better ourselves. Not without profanity, anyway. (Thanks to Nils and Michael for the tip)
Land of the Free, Home of the Metal Names
By Joel on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007Note to recently proud papa Adam Farrell: maybe Ella's nickname should be 'TimesNewViking?' What do you think? From our friends at the Associated Press:
Metallica may be a cool name for a heavy metal band, but a Swedish couple is struggling to convince officials it is also suitable for a baby girl.
Michael and Karolina Tomaro are locked in a court battle with Swedish authorities, which rejected their application to name their six-month-old child after the legendary rock band.
"It suits her," Karolina Tomaro, 27, said Tuesday of the name. "She's decisive and she knows what she wants."
Although little Metallica has already been baptized, the Swedish National Tax Board refused to register the name, saying it was associated with both the rock group and the word "metal."
Tomaro said the official handling the case also called the name "ugly."
The couple was backed by the County Administrative Court in Goteborg, which ruled on March 13 that there was no reason to block the name. It also noted that there already is a woman in Sweden with Metallica as a middle name.
The tax agency appealed to a higher court, frustrating the family's foreign travel plans.
"We've had to cancel trips and can't get anywhere because we can't get her a passport without an approved name," Tomaro said.
Ironically enough, if I recall correctly, original Metallica bassist Cliff Burton met his untimely demise in the home country of Jesper Eklow, so Swedish National Tax Board, if you're listening/reading and asking "For Whom the Bell Tolls," well it tolls for thee.
A Great Day In The Annals Of Guerilla Marketing
By Gerard on Thursday, February 1st, 2007
C'mon Time-Warner, bail this guy out, already.
To the elected officials of Boston and Massachusetts who are knocking themselves out with their crazed grandstanding, I can only hope that none of you are ever placed in Frylock's Cloner.
(UPDATE : A nice way to cash in on the lunacy, though I would hope some of the dough could go towards the defense fund of the poor schnook the Boston Police have made a scapegoat out of. )
I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (A Song We Didn’t Pay For)
By Gerard on Thursday, January 4th, 2007The AP's Jennifer Quinn on what sounds like an open and shut case of copyright infringement.
Coca-Cola Co. may be making an unsigned London ska band famous in Argentina, but the band isn't happy about it.
The band, called 7 Seconds of Love, says Coke used their song "Ninja" and the video that goes with it without permission in a South American commercial for Coca-Cola Light.
The band learned of the advertisement when a fan asked about it. The discovery, lead singer Joel Veitch said, led to "righteous fury followed by deep irritation."
"Initially, we didn't think much about it, because we don't get Argentine television here," Veitch said. "It was when it turned up on the Internet that we went, `Oh my god.'"
"To sound like us is OK. To look like us is OK. But it's the two together where it becomes a problem," he said.
The band doesn't want to take Coca-Cola to court, Veitch said, and couldn't afford a legal battle anyway because of their "extremely shallow pockets." Also, all the band's members have day jobs.
"The Coca-Cola Light spot in question was commissioned to a local advertising agency, Santo Buenos Aires SA, which assured Coca-Cola Argentina that each element of the advertisement was original," Kelly Brooks, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, said Wednesday.
"Coca-Cola de Argentina acted in good faith in accepting the work, but in light of the allegations has asked Santo Buenos Aires to fully research and resolve this matter."
Consider that Veitch has been commisioned to do some pretty high profile advertising stuff thanks to his widely circulated Rather Good videos, this has to be a legal blunder for the ages. The only thing I find more outrageous than Coca Cola's actions is the plight of persons dying to purchasing the song who might not be able to do so.
