February 24, 2008
Elsewhere in the Ist-a-Verse
Photo credit: sniderscion
- Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.
- Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!
- Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates in China has risen to 1,798 Yuan (or US$251).
- SFist welcomed in the year of the rat via San Francisco's annual Chinese New Year Parade.
- Bostonist was stunned this week by the news that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has been cutting bus and train rides from their schedule to save money. Only they neglected to tell passengers about it.
- Chicagoist covered last week's Obama and McCain wins.
- Gothamist was thrilled to hear that a kitten lost at a subway station was rescued after 25 days underground (a transit worker found her after he started to meow!). Georgia the cat was dehydrated and suffered a fractured leg but is, overall, in good condition.
- Much to the surprise of everyone at Londonist, apparently London airports are so amazing, police action was required to remove one man from Gatwick.
- LAist asked the question, why does everyone hate hipsters?
- Austinist reported live from the Democratic Presidential debate.
|
Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
As a parent AND a semiotics major, these ads caught my eye. Happy shiny people juxtaposed a pill bottle? That's nothing new. But the name was telling: "Obay". Obeying elders went "out" with the Old Testament. I thought everyone knew that. But perhaps I was just lucky enough to have parents who could not have cared less what I thought or what I did with those thoughts. Our culture discourages curiousity and teaching kids critical thinking is not as easy as it seems when they're publicly swept up into the media carnival and parents have to resort to extreme measures (drugs) just to stay in touch. The point is, this ad raises questions for kids and parents alike and hopefully exposes issues relating to how we educate our kids. It would be better if there was not follow-up advertising.