File spoon-archives/anarchy-list.archive/anarchy-list_2000/anarchy-list.0012, message 46


Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 19:43:02 -0800
From: Joshua Houk <jlhouk-AT-uswest.net>
Subject: Re: Leninist Attacks Anarchism in Adbusters Letters Section


At 07:13 PM 12/6/00, Chuck0 wrote:
>Jamal Hannah wrote:
> >
> > The latest issue of Adbusters magazine, the publication
> > about fighting commercialism, contains a rather misleading and
> > condemning letter from a Leninist about anarchism.  I think
> > people should respond to this letter in the letters section
> > of the magazine.
>
>Good. It sounds like they are jealous. Adbusters basically published an
>article that makes anarchy sound really cool. Everybody wants to become
>an anarchist. Leninism isn't selling well these days.

There's probably a good reason for this. The editors at Adbusters are 
heavily infatuated with Situationism - I read an interview with one of them 
in, of all things, Emigre Magazine(*), and he rambled incessantly about 
main situ themes.

Unfortunalely, they really have the hots for Guy Debord, which makes the 
magazine as dry and uninteresting as, well, Emigre's fonts.I paged through 
an issue of Adbusters a couple of years back(**) and found the whole thing 
tedious, bombastic, and as unsubtle as Chris Matthews(***) (or is that Pat 
Caddell?(****)). They're humorless and contribute too much dust in the 
dustbin of history. No mention of Vaneigem, of course. The weasels.

joshua h

(*) = The in-house publication of, yes, the Emigre Font Foundry - a 
stockpile of stupid, overpriced post-modern fonts - and they have a legal 
term that has an iron fist on the free distribution of typefaces(*****). 
Like Adbusters, Emigre is devoid of humor, passion, and any sense of 
aesthetics(******).

(**) = For your ref, this was when they were starting their heated "Get 
Harpers to run our Joe Chemo ad free!" campaign - an all-out efort to guilt 
Harpers into running an incredibly stupid and poorly drawn two-page ad, 
which is completely irrelevant today given the sharp downturn of cigarette 
smoking.

(***) = Decibel-endowed host of MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews", a 
mix between the Sunday Morning circuit of news shows(*******) and the 
anarchy of McLaughlin Group or Capital Gang.

(****) = Much too frequent guest commentator on "Hardball...", whose claim 
to fame is being a former Democratic pollster as well as being completely 
wrong. Interrupts people a lot too. And *loud*. A real pissant.

(*****) = A peculiarly USA institution, where typefaces fall under 
copyright law, unlike civilized societies.

(******) = With the notable exception of the typeface "Mrs. Eaves", notable 
because 1) it's actually good, and 2) it's a complete copy of Baskerville. 
(Oh, I'm sorry - "homage".)

(*******) = Typically structured with one moderator and a more serious, 
composed atmosphere and preminient guests, as opposed to the following 
shows, which resemble WWF Smackdown, and are lucky if they get the leader 
of the Delaware Young Republicans to sit down with them.




"On a recent ASCAP statement, three of my pieces are listed as 'Blank Tape.'
They can't be mine. I'm not a minimalist." - Ilhan Mimaroglu


   

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