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November 5, 1997
New ones Monday through Friday

Reader mail: Volume 5

The price of fame

[what a square!]

October 28: Stock Swindle

Dear simpleton,

Today's simpleton was very informative.

I don't know what you're aiming for anymore? You have set up the categories for each day but only you really know what they are. What I'm saying is I don't have idea what simpleton is going to be from one day to the next. Will it be humorous, witty, insightful, delightful, satire, parody or just plain cooooolll!!!!

It might not seem like it's very important but most readers already have an expectation for what they are about to read and I think in most cases when they don't get what they expect, they are disappointed or not as pleased.

You're in a service industry, and don't you forget it.

Sincerely,

Henry
henry@novomedia.com


Dear Henry,

Rest assured that every day, you can expect simpleton to be humorous, witty, insightful, delightful, satire, parody and just plain cooooolll!!!!

Since the first week of simpleton publication, we have hewed more or less to the following schedule:

Monday: A series of cartoons (read "humor and insight")
Tuesday: An essay detailing our bottomless pomposity (read "insightful and delightful")
Wednesday: Reader Mail (you're reading it right now)
Thursday: A prank or joke of some sort (read: "humorous and witty")
Friday: Parody day (read "all of the above")

This Thursday, however, we will be deviating somewhat from the above schedule; in place of the aforementioned prank, tomorrow's issue will highlight a witty and insightful report from one of our far-flung correspondants. Stay tuned. It'll be just plain cool.

Sincerely,

simpleton

______________________

[collectors' delight!]

October 27: How did you spend the extra hour?

Topic: Fighting corporate censorship with a meme

Artist Mark Napier is the author and creator of The Distorted Barbie, a web-based exploration in words and images of the impact Barbie and all her baggage have had on our bodies and culture. The site is a poetic and potent piece of Internet art.

While Napier's site has been online for quite a while, it's only recently attracted the attention of Mattel, Inc., who have issued a cease and desist notice -- they want the site taken down by October 22, 1997 [Note: this date has passed, and Napier re-posted the site with heavily distorted versions, renaming the site The Distorted Barblie. Mattel lawyers are still not satisfied].

It's all about trademark law, which draws capricious lines between acceptable and unacceptable usage of brand identies in parody and artwork (did Brillo sue Warhol?) No reasonable person could assert that Napier's site is going to affect Mattel's business, or even measurably dent the sale of Barbie dolls. Barbie is a molecule of the air Americans breathe.

While Napier has decided not to fight the Mattel request as an individual, there's a much more effective technique we can use to drive Mattel lawyers crazy: turn the Distorted Barbie site into a free-travelling meme. Place copies of the site all over the net, then sit back and wait for Mattel to find them. When the company asks us to cease and desist, we will. But by that time, dozens more copies of the site will have sprung up elsewhere to take its place. The lawyers' bogus squirrel hunt will turn into an endless, crazy-making pursuit of a target that multiplies exponentially by digital mitosis. Eventually, they'll give up and realize that the Internet is not a very good place to try and squelch free expression.

If you have available space on your Web server, consider downloading and installing a mirror of the site in .zip or .tar format from

http://207.159.135.123/zips/

Please feel free to redistribute both the site and this message, replacing the sender's name and email address, and replacing the mirror addresses above with your own. If you choose to mirror the site, be sure and mirror the downloadable archives as well!

VIVA LA DISTORTED BARBIE! VIVA LA MEME!

Sincerely,

banano@geocities.com


Dear Banano,

Didn't Victor Lazlo make a similar speech in Casablanca? "If you strike one of us down, ten more will rise up to take his place" or words to that effect? Somehow, resisting the Germans seemed so stirring in that context, while needling Mattel in this context seems not stirring at all.

I happen to agree with those capricious copyright laws, and the jockstrap-sized protections they provide to makers of intellectual property. And Napier's revelation that Barbie distorts our sense of body image is, um, not exactly a state secret. And frankly, the smug tone of embattlement that informs this Barbie Meme campaign makes my head hurt. But I'm all for sticking it to The Man, so on the off chance that one or two of simpleton's 11 or 12 readers haven't heard about this business, I've reprinted your letter. Best wishes to you and all the other geniuses who are exposing Barbie's True Agenda.

Sincerely,

simpleton

______________________

[tied up in little nazis]

October 30: Laffen SS

Dear simpleton,

Subject:this is more fun than work (equals freedom)

It was cool for a while, and then she got all Hitler on me!

I can't go out tonight, I'm reading a novel by Goebbels.

Do you want to be part of the problem, or part of the final solution?

Yeah, I read about how all the Nazis cross-dressed and mainlined morphine, too. I still think what they did was wrong.

Too much Hitler, too little time.

In English, Mein Kampf translates to My Kampf.

Auschwitz! I slammed my finger in the oven door!

Mr. Spielberg, is it true the Jews in "Schindler's List" were animatronic?

If you can't stand the Hitler, get out of the kitchen!

Sincerely,

Sam Lipsyte
lipsyte@feedmag.com


Dear Sam,

Since our original Hitler list contained more than a few clunkers, I've reprinted your excellent list. Any other contributors out there? Now a floating Hitler meme - that's something the American people might get behind (if we can just find somebody who wants to shut us down).

Sincerely,

simpleton

Dear simpleton,

I'm pretty sure that today's issue redefines bad taste. I may be forced to:

a) Change my email signature
ii) Not send any email today

Bruce
brucek@reef.com
Please read http://www.simpleton.com so he'll leave me alone...


Dear Bruce,

I was actually expecting some umbrage over this one, and hesitated about running it, but was forced to act when I read an article praising The Residents for their daring decision to put out an album called Third Reich and Roll. At that point I decided people have been getting away with this Hitler dodge way too long. And where lesser men would have sat silent before tyranny, simpleton acted.

Sincerely,

simpleton

______________________


[hubba hubba]

An Invitation


Dear simpleton,

Me and my friends are Exhibitionist and would like to show you how naughty we can get. You can see us Live and spend some Free time in our special little private rooms. You will be viewing us with a big viewing screen and fast clear video just like T.V. There are also 3 Live Rooms where you can see me and my friends 24 hrs a day. Plus there are hundreds of wild streaming videos, pictures , games, and stories. If you have a Quickcam you can plug it in to your computer and we can see you as well. Me and my friends would love to see you.!!!! Doing you know what @@@@. Hurry up and visit our website, me and my friends are desperately waiting for you.

http://38.216.110.215/eskimo.htm

P.S. Me and my friends will also do a two girl show for you!!!!

XOXOXO

Alyssa
ksantos6@hotmail.com


Dear Alyssa,

Listen, me and my old lady are into this kind of shit, but what say we skip this lame quickcam and streaming video and all that and just get right down to laying some pipe?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm Mr. Foreplay and all, it's just that this watching it all on computer ain't my bag. I mean, don't get me wrong (jeez, how many times am I gonna say that, huh?), I'm all for watching, and you and your friend sound like you got some holycrap imaginations. So, you know, anything goes. You can even bring a guy along - I know the Mrs would grok that, cause she gives as good as she gets, you know what I'm saying? We're way openminded.

So we should definitely have a good time, since we're all consenting adults and everything - I mean we are all adults here, right? (heh heh) Oh, that reminds me of something I heard one time at the old perverts home: "One time I had a nine-year-old with the body of an eight-year-old." ;->

That's just a joke of course. I'm not even remotely into that kid thing. I mean to each his own, and you know our society is soooo uptight. Grass on the field = play ball, that's my philosophy. But if I were into something underripe (not that I am, just supposing) I sure wouldn't say it here. Cause, I mean for all I know you could be a cop or something, right? And fuck, you're probably thinking the same thing about me. And who can tell, cause we haven't even met (is this online, cyber hightech shit a total mindfuck or what?).

Which brings me back to square one. I think we're all on the same page with this stuff, but let's can the internet garbage and do it in person. Really, what beats a little one-to-one action (or 6 to 1 action for all we care ;->)? So give me a call, doll. We'll definitely make some shit happen.

XOXOXO

Buzz Perskie



Alyssa is waiting for your letter.


In the next installment of Reader Mail:

Solve the first weekly simpleton puzzle!
Track the growth of simpleton's readership!
Savor the wit of simpleton's fans!
Send your own letter and watch it become a meme!

Coming in one week!

And there'll be a new simpleton tomorrow!



Previously in simpleton:


Tuesday: King's Ransom: Why it's good to be the King ... of Horror!
Monday: Day of the Dead: Minor versions
Friday: A simpleton Hallowen
Thursday: Laffen SS: A blitzkrieg of comedy
Wednesday: Reader Mail: Volume 4
Tuesday: Stock Swindle: The stock footage industry and its discontents


A century of simpletons in the simpleton archive.


Tomorrow:

One of our far-flung correspondents reports in